C/EDES    COLIGNII     ET    SOCIORUM     EJUS. 

T1IK    MASHACRK    IN    I'AHIK. 

From  the  Picture  in  the  Vatican  by  Vasari. 


PREFACE. 


IN"  the  following  pages  I  have  endeavored  to  describe 
the  great  struggle  which  devastated  France  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  culminated  in  the  mem- 
orable tragedy  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Day.  The  nature  of 
that  struggle  can  not  be  fairly  understood,  unless  the  con- 
dition of  the  Protestants  under  Francis  I.  and  his  two  im- 
mediate successors  be  taken  into  consideration.  In  those 
fiery  times  of  trial  the  Huguenot  character  was  formed, 
and  the  nation  gradually  separated  into  two  parties,  so 
fanatically  hostile,  that  the  extermination  of  the  weaker 
seemed  the  only  possible  means  of  re-establishing  the  unity 
of  France. 

* 

The  three  preliminary  chapters  necessarily  contain  many 
notices  of  the  cruel  persecutions  which  the  Eeformers  had 
to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  dominant  Church ;  but  the 
author  would  be  much  grieved  were  it  supposed  that  he 
had  written  those  chapters  with  any  desire  to  rekindle  the 
dying  embers  of  religious  strife.  On  that  portion  of  his 
work  he  dwells  with  pain  and  regret ;  but  such  pages  of 
history  contain  warnings  that  it  may  be  well  to  repeat  from 
time  to  time.  Though  there  may  be  little  danger  of  our 
drifting  back  to  the  atrocities  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 


VI  PREFACE. 

though  we  no  longer  burn  men,  mob-law  and  other  forms 
of  terrorism  are  still  employed  to  stifle  free  discussion,  and 
check  individual  liberty.  From  this  to  the  prison,  the 
rack,  and  the  stake,  the  step  is  not  so  wide  as  it  appears. 
Moreover,  it  is  good  to  revive  occasionally  the  memory  of 
those  who  have  "  served  God  in  the  fire,"  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  their  descendants,  who  have  the  good  fortune  to 
live  in  times  when  they  can  "  honor  God  in  the  sunshine." 
Such  examples  of  patience  and  firmness  under  torture,  of 
self-devotion,  of  child-like  reliance  on  the  spiritual  prom- 
ises of  their  Divine  Master,  of  obedience  to  conscience,  and 
of  faithfulness  to  duty,  are  fruitful  for  all  ages.  They 
serve  to  show  not  only  that  persecution  is  a  mistake,  but 
that  the  final  victory  is  not  with  the  successful  persecutor. 
Man's  real  strength  consists  in  prudence  and  foresight — 
qualities  which  belong  but  to  few;  and  if  this  small  intelli- 
gent class  (and  such  the  early  Keformers  were,  even  by  the 
confession  of  their  enemies)  be  driven  out  or  exterminated, 
the  ignorant  masses  are  lost.  Spain  and  Itaty  have  never 
recovered  from  the  self-inflicted  wounds  of  the  sixteenth 
century ;  and  if  France  has  suffered  in  a  less  degree,  it  is 
because  persecution  did  not  so  completely  succeed  in  de- 
stroying freedom  of  thought  and  liberty  of  conscience. 

The  author  has  tried  to  write  impartially  :  he  has  weigh- 
ed conflicting  evidence  carefully,  and  has  never  willingly 
allowed  prejudices  to  direct  his  judgment.  That  he  has 
succeeded  in  holding  the  balance  even,  is  more  than  he  can 
venture  to  hope ;  but  in  such  a  cause  there  is  consolation 
even  in  failure.  If  he  has  not  painted  the  unscrupulous 
Catherine  de  Medicis  and  the  half-insane  Charles  in  such 
dark  colors  as  preceding  writers,  he  has  carefully  abstain- 


PREFACE.  Vii 

ed  from  whitewashing  them.  He  has  shown  that  they 
both  possessed  many  estimable  qualities,  and  has  carefully 
marked  the  steps  by  which  they  attained  such  an  eminence 
in  evil.* 

In  the  earlier  pages  of  this  history  the  followers  of  the 
new  creed  in  France  are  called  indifferently  Protestants  or 
Huguenots.  The  use  of  the  former  word  is  not  strictly 
correct ;  but  it  is  preferable  to  the  awkward  term  "  Ee- 
formed,"  by  which  the  French  Dissenters  designate  them- 
selves. By  their  enemies  they  were  usually  denominated 
Calvinists — a  term  which  I  have  generally  avoided  on  ac- 
count of  the  erroneous  ideas  connected  with  it  among  ordi- 
nary readers.  In  the  present  day  it  is  seldom  used  with- 
out a  sneer.  With  all  the  complacency  of  ignorance,  men 
write  of  "grim  Calvinists  who  justify  the  burning  ofSer- 
vetus."  Calvinists,  grim  or  otherwise,  do  not  justify  perse- 
cution ;  and  as  regards  Servetus,  his  execution  was  ap- 
proved of  by  all  the  Protestant  divines  of  Germany  and 
Switzerland,  and  Calvin  was  perhaps  the  only  man  who 
tried  to  save  the  arch-heretic's  life.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  errors  of  the  Eeformer  of  Geneva,  he  was  one  of 
the  greatest  men  of  his  day,  and  as  an  author  he  stands  in 
the  first  rank  of  early  French  prose-writers.  Englishmen 
who  owe  so  many  of  their  liberties  to  the  influence  of  his 
opinions  during  the  counter-reformation  of  the  seventeenth 

*  In  judging  these  and  other  great  historical  criminals,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  To  borrow  the  language  of  Mr.  Hep- 
worth  Dixon  in  his  eloquent  vindication  of  Lord  Bacon :  "  The  cry  of 
pain,  the  gasp  of  death,  were  no  such  shocks  to  the  gentle  heart  as  they 
would  be  in  a  softer  time.  Men  had  been  hardened  in  the  [martyrs']  fire. 
Minds  were  infected  by  the  atrocities  of  [Huguenot]  plots.  The  ballads 
sung  in  the  streets  were  steeped  in  blood."  In  such  times  of  frenzy  even 
the  merciful  become  cruel. 


Vlil  PREFACE. 

century,  should  be  the  last  people  to  look  unkindly  upon 
his  failings. 

Respecting  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  there  are 
two  theories.  Some  writers  contend  that  it  was  the  result 
of  a  long  premeditated  plot,  and  this  view  was  so  ably 
maintained  by  John  Allen  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  (vol. 
xliv.  1826),  that  nothing  farther  was  left  to  be  said  on  the 
subject.  Others  are  of  opinion  that  it  was  the  accidental 
result  of  a  momentary  spasm  of  mingled  terror  and  fanati- 
cism caused  by  the  unsuccessful  attempt  to  murder  Coligny. 
This  theory  has  been  supported  by  Ranke  in  a  review  of 
Capefigue's  "  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,"  printed  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  "  Historisch-politische  Zeitschrift "  (1836), 
and  in  the  first  volume  of  his  "  Franzosische  Geschichte ;" 
by  Soldan  in  his  "  Frankreich.  und  die  Bartholomaus- 
Nacht ;"  by  Baum  in  his  "  Leben  Beza's ;"  and  by  Coquerel 
in  the  "Revue  Theologique"  in  1859.  Since  they  wrote, 
many  new  materials  tending  to  confirm  their  views  have 
come  to  light,  some  of  which  are  for  the  first  time  noticed 
in  this  volume. 

Foremost  in  value  among  the  materials  for  this  portion 
of  the  French  history  are  the  extracts  from  the  "Simancas 
Archives,"  published  by  M.  Gachard  in  the  "  Correspond- 
ance  de  Philippe  II."  The  letters  of  Catherine  de  Medicis 
(as  published  by  Alberi)  throw  a  new  light  upon  some  of 
the  obscurer  parts  of  the  reign  of  Charles  IX. ;  and  though 
it  would  be  unwise  to  trust  them  implicitly,  I  can  scarcely 
imagine  a  more  valuable  contribution  to  French  history 
than  a  complete  collection  of  her  correspondence.  Her 
letters  are  scattered  all  over  France :  a  few  have  been 
printed  in  local  histories,  but  far  the  greater  part  of  them 


PREFACE.  IX 

(including  those  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Murray  of  Alber- 
marle  Street)  remain  almost  unknown.  Much  curious  in- 
formation has  been  gleaned  from  the  "  Relazioni "  of  the  Ve- 
netian embassadors,  edited  by  Alberi,  or  in  the  more  accessi- 
ble volumes  of  Tommaseo  and  Baschet.  I  need  not  point 
out  the  value  of  the  documents  contained  in  the  cor- 
respondence of  Aubespine,  La  Mothe  -  Fenelon,  Cardinal 
Granvelle,  and  in  the  "  Archives  de  la  Maison  d'Orange- 
Nassau,"  published  by  Groen  van  Prinsterer.  The  letters 
of  the  English  agents  in  France,  so  singularly  neglected  by 
many  writers,  help  to  explain  several  of  the  incidents  of 
the  Tumult  of  Amboise  and  the  proposed  war  in  Flanders 
in  1572.  The  omission  from  Walsingham's  correspond- 
ence of  all  account  of  the  Massacre  is  much  to  be  lament- 
ed. Though  I  have  sought  for  it  in  vain,  I  still  entertain 
a  hope  that  it  may  some  day  be  recovered.  In  the  Record 
Office  there  is  a  curious  report  by  the  famous  Kirkaldy  of 
Grange,  of  which  Mr.  Froude  has  already  made  use  in  his 
last  volume.  Two  other  remarkable  contemporary  letters 
—  one  in  Spanish,  the  other  in  German  —  are  noticed  in 
their  proper  place. 

Either  personally  or  through  the  help  of  kind  friends 
the  author  has  searched  far  and  wide  among  the  provincial 
records  of  France.  The  sources  of  the  information  thus 
acquired  have  been  carefully  indicated  in  the  notes,  and 
the  result  has  often  been  to  discredit  the  statements  of  the 
older  writers,  carelessly  copied  by  their  successors.  Two 
remarkable  instances  connected  with  Toulouse  and  Lyons 
will  be  observed  in  the  course  of  the  history.  The  Medicis 
MSS.  at  Le  Puy,  the  manuscripts  in  the  public  library  at 
Rouen,  the  letters  of  Charles  IX.  at  Tours,  the  Acts  Con- 


X  PREFACE. 

sulaires  of  Lyons,  the  Consular  and  Parliament  Eegisters 
of  Toulouse,  the  Registers  of  Caen,  the  Livre  du  Roi  at 
Dijon,  the  Municipal  Archives  and  Baptismal  Registers  at 
Provins,  the  Comptes  Consulaires  at  Gap,  have  contributed 
to  enrich  this  volume  on  several  important  matters.  The 
public  records  of  Montpelier,  Nismes,  Grenoble,  Clermont- 
Ferrand,  Bayeux,  and  other  places,  as  well  as  the  unpub- 
lished Memoirs  of  Jacques  Gaches,  and  the  MS.  of  Presi- 
dent Latomy,  which  differs  considerably  from  the  printed 
text,  have  also  furnished  their  contingent  of  information. 
Much  curious  and  interesting  matter  has  been  found  in 
Haag's  "  France  Protestante,"  and  in  the  "Bulletin  de  la 
Societe  de  1'Histoire  du  Protestantism e  Francois." 

The  reader  will  find  very  little  in  this  volume  about  the 
internal  development  of  the  Reformed  Church ;  for  such 
information  he  must  look  to  theological  histories  and  to 
writers  who  have  made  theology  their  study.  Laymen 
who  venture  into  that  field  rarely  escape  the  imputation 
of  ignorance  or  heterodoxy. 

December,  1867. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

[1500-1547.] 

Causes  of  the  Reformation — Lefevre  of  Staples — Francis  I. — Revival  of 
Learning — La  Renaissance — Clerical  Manners — Early  Converts  and  first 
Victims — Jacques  Pavannes,  Berquin — Margaret  of  Valois — Calvin  and 
his  Institutes — The  King's  Inconstancy — Edict  of  Fontainebleau — Two 
Heretics  burned — Treaty  of  Crespy — Vaudois  Persecution — The  Baron  of 
Oppede — Massacre  at  Merindol — Cry  of  Indignation — Sadolet,  Bishop  of 
Cavpentras — Tragedy  of  Meaux — A  Cloud  of  Witnesses — Stephen  Dolet 
and  Robert  Stephens — Marot — The  last  Martyr — Death  of  Francis  I. — 
His  Funeral  Sermon — His  Character ..PAGE  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

HENRY    II. 

[1547-1C5D.] 

Henry  II. — Catherine  and  Diana — Montmorer.cy — Coronation — King  en- 
ters Paris — Fetes — Heretic  Burning — New  Edicts — Chambres  Ardentes — 
Edict  of  Chateaubriant — Persecution  at  Angers,  Le  Puy,  Velay — Inquisi- 
tion proposed — Resistance  of  Parliament — Siege  and  Battle  of  St.  Quentin 
— Affair  of  the  Rue  St.  Jacques — Martyrdom  of  Philippa  de  Lunz— Cal- 
vin's Letter — Pre  aux  Clercs  and  Marot's  Psalms — Peace  of  Cateau-Cam- 
bresis — Divisions  in  the  Paris  Parliament — The  Mercurial  of  June — Du 
Faur  and  Du  Bourg  arrested — First  Synod  of  Reformed  Churches — Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  Book  of  Discipline — Edict  of  Ecouen — The  Tourna- 
ment— Henry's  Death 22 

CHAPTER  III. 

REIGN   OF   FRANCIS  II. 
[1550-1560.] 

Catherine  de  Medicis — The  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine — 
St.  Andre — Anthony  of  Navarre  and  Conde' — Coligny  and  Andelot — Dis- 
grace of  Montmorency — Persecuting  Edicts — Execution  of  Du  Bourg — 
Discontent  in  France — Edict  of  Chambord — La  Renaudie — The  Meeting 
at  Nantes — Tumult  of  Amboise — Bloody  Reprisals — Castelnau's  Trial  and 
Execution — The  Duke's  Viands — Aubigne  and  his  Son — Grace  of  Am- 


XI I  CONTENTS. 

boise — Regnicr  de  la  Planchc — Renewal  of  Persecutions — L'Hopital  made 
Chancellor — Edict  of  Komorantin — Religious  and  Political  Malcontents — 
Abuse  of  the  Pulpit — The  Tiger — General  Lawlessness — Huguenot  Vio- 
lence—  Demand  for  a  Council — Montbrun  and  Mouvans  —  L'Hopital's 
Inaugural  Address — Les  Politiques — The  Notables  at  Fontainebleau — 
Montluc  and  Marillac — Meeting  at  Nerac — Address  presented  to  Antho- 
ny— The  Court  at  Orleans — Arrest  and  Trial  of  Conde' — Death  of  Fran- 
cis II Gl 

CHAPTER  IV. 

FRANCE   AT   THE   ACCESSION  OF   CHARLES   IX. 

[1530.] 

Contrast  —  Power  of  King  and  Nobles — The  Provinces — Roads  —  Rate  of 
Traveling — Forests — Wild  Animals — Brigandage — Inns — League  of  the 
Loire — Agriculture — Condition  of  the  Peasantry — Rent — Serfage — Wages 
— Cost  of  Provisions — Food — Sumptuary  Laws — Social  Changes — Igno- 
rance of  the  People — Population  of  France — Taxation — Army  and  Navy 
— The  Clergy — Superstitions — Justice — Punishments — Brutality  of  Man- 
ners— Domestic  Architecture — Paris — Cities  of  France :  Orleans,  Rouen, 
Bordeaux,  Dieppe,  Lyons,  Boulogne,  Dijon,  Monlins,  St.  Eticnne,  and 
Toulouse 112 

CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CHARLES  IX.  TO  THE  MASSACRE  OF  VASSY. 

[1500-1502.] 

Character  of  the  Boy-King—Portrait  of  Catherine— The  States-General— 
The  Chancellor's  Address — Speeches  of  the  Three  Orators — Agitation  in 
the  Provinces — Religious  Amnesty — Edict  of  July — Provincial  Assemblies 
Convoked — Instructions  of  the  Isle  of  France — The  Triumvirate — States 
of  Pontoise — Proposals  of  Reform — Colloquy  of  Poissy — Beza — Confer- 
ence in  the  Queen's  Chamber — King's  Speech — Beza's  Defense — Cath- 
erine's Liberal  Spirit — Spread  of  New  Doctrines — Monster  Congregations 
— The  Guises  Intrigue  with  Spain — Violence  of  the  Clergy — Massacres  at 
Cahors  and  Aurillac — Amiens — Huguenot  Outrages — Riot  of  St.  Medard 
— Notables  at  St.  Germains — Edict  of  January,  1562 — Violence  at  Dijon 
and  Aix — Anthony's  Apostasy — The  Duke  and  the  Cardinal  at  Savernc 
— Massacre  at  Vassy — Both  Parties  Arm— Guise  Enters  Paris — Plot  to 
Seize  the  King H5 

CHAPTER  VI. 

FIRST   RELIGIOUS   \VAR. 

[1563-1563.] 

Beginning  of  Reaction — Causes  of  the  War — The  Huguenots  arm — Advice 
of  Coligny's  Wife — Covenant  of  Association — Massacre  at  Sens  and  Sis- 
teron — Discipline  of  the  Armies — Catherine  attempts  to  mediate — Con- 


CONTENTS.  Xlil 

forence  at  Thour}' — Negotiations  broken  off — Fearful  state  of  Paris — The 
Constable's  violence — Appeals  to  Foreign  Sympathy — Successes  of  the 
Koyalists — Atrocities  at  Blois  and  Tours — Kouen  Besieged — The  Breach 
stormed — The  Hour  of  Vengeance — Pastor  Marlorat  hanged — Death  of 
Anthony  of  Navarre — Disturbances  in  Normandy — Offer  of  Amnesty — 
Battle  of  Dreux — Conde'  and  Montmorency  captured — St.  Andre  killed — 
Siege  of  Orleans — Duke  of  Guise  murdered — Poltrot  de  Mere — Pacifi- 
cation of  Amboise — Distress  caused  by  the  War — Death  of  Coligny's  Son 
— Letter  to  his  Wife 195 

CHAPTER  VII. 

CHAOS. 

[15C2-15G3.] 

Nature  of  the  Struggle — Montluc — His  Barbarity — Des  Adrets — His  Feroc- 
ity— Murders  at  Gaillac — The  Reform  in  Provence  and  Languedoc — 
Scenes  at  Orange — Revolt  at  Valence — Disturbances  at  Lyons — Compro- 
mise— LaRochelle — Massacre  at  Toulouse — Exodus  of  Sisteron — Sauter- 
ies  of  Macon — Limoux — Palm  Sunday  at  Castelnaudary — The  Monks  of 
St.  Calais — Violence  in  Berry — The  Chatelaine  of  Avallon — The  Proctor 
of  Bar — Atrocities  of  the  Bishop  of  Le  Mans  and  his  Lieutenant — Hugue- 
not Cruelties  at  Dieppe  and  Bayeux — Angouleme — Quarrels  at  Court — 
Siege  of  Havre — Duplicity  of  English  Government — Charles  Proclaimed 
of  Age— His  Character— Council  of  Trent 22D 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

TUE   MEETING   AT   BAYOSNE. 

[June,  1505— March,  1568.] 

Tin;  Royal  progress — Bayonne  in  June — Identical  note — Amusements — Po- 
litical Deliberations — The  Queen  of  Navarre  Excommunicated — Cather- 
ine's Remonstrance — The  Pope  yields — State  of  Gascony — Assembly  of 
Notables  at  Moulins — Feud  between  Guise  and  Coligny — Montmorency 
and  the  Cardinal — Disturbed  state  of  Maine — Montluc  pacifies  Gascony — 
Embassy  from  Germany — Rebellion  in  Flanders — March  of  Alva — Conde 
leaves  the  Court — Rumored  Plot — Huguenot  Meeting  at  Chatillon — War 
resolved  upon — Attempt  to  seize  Charles — Huguenot  Rising — Battle  of 
St.  Denis — Death  of  the  Constable — German  Auxiliaries — Michelade  of 
Nismes — Siege  of  Chartres — Peace  of  Longjumeau — Death  of  Coligny's 
Wife 247 

CHAPTER  IX. 

JABKAC    AND   MOXCOXTOUR. 
[156S-15TO.] 

State  of  the  Country — The  National  Party — Atrocities  and  Retaliation — 
L'Hopital's  Retirement — The  Catholic  League — League  of  Toulouse — 
The  New  Plot— The  Flight  to  Rochelle— Aid  from  England— Anjou, 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

Commander-in-Chief— Battle  of  Jarnac  —  Death  of  Conde — Henry  of 
Beam — Siege  of  Cognac — Junction  of  Duke  Wolfgang — Death  of  Brissac 
— Battle  of  Koehe-Abeille — Siege  of  Poitiers— Moncontour — The  Admi- 
ral's letter  to  his  Children— Siege  of  St.  Jean  D'Angely — Desmarais — The 
Great  March — Cruelties  at  Orthez,  Auxcrrc,  Orleans,  Cognat,  Aurillac — 
Coligny's  illness — Battle  of  Arnay-le-Duc— Treaty  of  St.  Germains.  283 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE    CALM    BEFORE   THE    STOBM. 

[August,  15TO,  to  August,  1572.] 

Albert  and  Pierre  de  Gondi,  Birague,  Strozzi,  Nevers,  and  Henry  of  Guise 
— Marriage  of  Charles  IX. — Nuptial  Festivities  at  Paris — Embassy  of  the 
German  Princes — Violent  Sermons — Outrages  at  Orange  and  llouen — 
Objects  of  the  Politiques — Revolt  in  Flanders — Position  of  Affairs — In- 
terview between  the  King  and  Prince  Louis  of  Nassau — Spanish  Threats 
— Coligny's  Marriage — The  Admiral  goes  to  Blois — Conferences  with  the 
King — Proposed  Marriage  of  Henry  and  Margaret — Murder  of  Ligne- 
rolles — The  Gastine  Cross — Queen  of  Navarre  at  Blois — Alessandrino's 
Special  Embassy — Letters  to  Rome — Negotiations — Pope  refuses  the  Dis- 
pensation— Fears  of  the  Parisians 319 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    MARRIAGE   AND   THE    PLOT. 
[August,  1572.] 

Proposed  German  and  English' Alliances— Anjon's  Refusal — Treaty  with 
England — Capture  of  Mons — Defeat  of  Genlis — Walsingham's  Dispatches 
— War-Excitement — Deliberations  in  Council — Charles  at  Montpipeau — 
Catherine  follows  him — Her  tears — Increasing  influence  of  Coligny — His 
Death  resolved  on — Joan  of  Navarre  in  Paris — Her  sudden  Death — Dis- 
trust and  Warnings — Coligny's  firmness — Plot  and  Counterplot — Henry 
of  Navarre  enters  Paris — The  Wedding — Masque  at  the  Hotel  Bourbon — 
The  Admiral's  last  Letter — Plot  to  Assassinate  him — The  Duchess  of 

Nemours — Maurevel  sent  for 353 

i 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   ASSASSINATION. 
[22d,  23d,  and  24th  August] 

Coligny  in  tho  Tennis-Court— The  Fatal  Shot— The  King's  Indignation 
and  Threats — Letters  to  Provincial  Governors — Precautions  in  the  City 
— Interview  between  Charles  and  the  Admiral — Despair  of  Catherine  and 
Anjou—  The  Huguenot  Council — Threats  of  violence — De  Pilles  and 
Pardaillan  at  the  Louvre — The  Turning-point — Conversation  between 
Catherine  and  Anjou — Meeting  in  tho  Tnileries  Garden — Guard  sent  to 
Coligny — Scene  in  the  King's  Closet — Catherine's  Argument — DC  Retz 


CONTEXTS.  XV 

Protests — Charles  Yields  at  last — Guise  in  the  City — Precautions — Anjou 
and  Angouleme  ride  through  Paris — Municipal  Arrangements — Charles 
and  La  Ilochefoucault — Margaret  and  her  sister  Claude — Coligny's  last 
Night 379 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    FESTIVAL   OF    BLOOD. 

[August  and  September,  1572.  ] 

The  Huguenot  Gentleman  Killed — Midnight  at  the  Louvre — Charles  still 
hesitates — The  Conspirators  at  the  window — The  pistol-shot — Guise  re- 
called too  late — Scene  at  Coligtiy's  Hotel — The  assault  and  murder — In- 
dignities— Montfaii9on — Scene  at  the  Louvre — Queen  Margaret's  alarm 
— Proclamations — Salviati's  letter — List  of  Atrocities — Death  of  Ramus 
and  La  Place — Charles  fires  upon  the  Fugitives — Escape  of  Montgomery, 
Sully,  Duplessis-Mornay,  Caumont — The  Miracle  of  the  White  Thorn — 
Charles  conscience-stricken — Thanksgiving  and  Justification — Execution 
of  Briquemaut  and  Cavaigncs — Abjuration  of  Henry  and  Conde 404 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

MASSACRE    IN   THE    PROVINCES. 

[August  to  October,  1572.] 

Instructions  to  the  Governors — The  Count  of  Tende — Nantes  and  Alencon 
— Massacres  at  Saumur,  Angers,  Lyons,  Orleans,  Troyes,  Rouen,  Meaux, 
Bordeaux,  and  Toulouse — St.  Herem's  Ie.tter — The  stolen  Dispatch — The 
Governor  of  Bayonne — The  Bishop  of  Lisieux — Chabot  at  Arnay-le-Duc 
— Senlis,  Provins,  Chateau-Thierry,  Dieppe,  and  Nismes  spared  —  The 
Number  of  Victims — Contemporary  Judgments — Dorat's  Panegyric — 
Jean  Le  Masle — Pierre  Charpentier  and  Sorbin — Rejoicings  at  Rome — Ex- 
ultation of  Philip  II. — Horror  in  England — John  Knox's  Denunciation — 
The  Emperor  Maximilian's  regret 446 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   CLOSING    SCENE. 
[1572-1574] 

Reaction — Tolerant  Protestations  of  Government — Walsingham's  disbelief 
and  caution — Renewal  of  Civil  War — Mission  of  Cardinal  Orsini — Siege 
of  Rochelle — Honorable  terms  of  Capitulation — Siege  of  Sancerre — Fam- 
ine— Horrible  scenes — Capitulation — Meeting  at  Montauban — Troubled 
state  of  France — Intrigues  of  Alencon — Shrove-Tuesday  plot — La  Mole 
and  Coconnas  executed — Charles  falls  ill — Conversation  with  Henry  of 
Navarre — Charles's  visions — His  Huguenot  nurse — Her  exhortations — The 
King's  remorse — His  dying  words — Suspicions  of  Poison — His  character 
— His  married  life — Judgment  of  Posterity 471 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTEATIONS. 


C^EDES   COLIGKII   ET    SOCIORTTM   EjUS.      THE    MASSACRE   IN 

PARIS  (from  the  Picture  in  the  Vatican  by  Vasari) Frontispiece. 

GASPARD  DE  COLIGNY 68 

CATHERINE  DE  MEDICIS....  146 


THE 

MASSACRE  OF  ST,  BARTHOLOMEW. 


CHAPTER  I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

[1500-1517.] 

Causes  of  the  Reformation — Lefevre  of  Staples — Francis  I. — Revival  of 
Learning — La  Renaissance — Clerical  Manners — Early  Converts  and  First 
Victims — Jacques  Pavannes,  Berquin — Margaret  of  Valois — Calvin  and 
his  Institutes — The  King's  Inconstancy — Edict  of  Fontainebleau — Two 
Heretics  Burned — Treaty  of  Crespy — Vaudois  Persecution — The  Baron  of 
Oppede — Massacre  at  Merindol — Cry  of  Indignation — Sadolet,  Bishop  of 
Carpentras — Tragedy  of  Meaux — A  Cloud  of  Witnesses — Stephen  Dolet 
and  Robert  Stephens — Marot— The  Last  Martyr — Death  of  Francis  I. — 
His  Funeral  Sermon — His  Character. 

THE  sixteenth  century  has  been  rightly  called  the  era  of  the 
Renaissance.  Then  learning  and  religion  revived;  the  fine 
arts  received  a  fresh  development.  Then  a  new  spirit 
breathed  upon  the  nations,  and  the  people  began  to  feel  that 
they  were  intended  to  be  something  better  than  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water — mere  beasts  of  burden  or  trib- 
ute-paying machines  for  the  use  of  their  lords.  The  great 
Reform  movement  had  been  preparing  from  afar.  Had  Con- 
stantinople never  fallen,  had  Eastern  learning  not  been  driven 
to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  "West,  the  religious  revolution  might 
have  been  retarded;  it  could  not  have  been  prevented.  In 
the  hour  when  Guttenberg  printed  the  first  sheet  of  his  Bible 
the  spiritual  despotism  of  Rome  began  to  totter.  It  was  a 
strange  period  of  excitement,  when  Vasco  de  Gama  made  his 
way  to  India  round  the  Cape  of  Storms,  and  when  Columbus 
returned  triumphant  from  the  discovery  of  a  new  world.  A 

A 


2  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

spirit  of  restlessness  and  scepticism  pervaded  all  Europe. 
Monks  in  their  cloisters,  hermits  in  their  ceUs,  barons  in  their 
castles,  lawyers  in  their  courts,  priests  in  their  rural  parson- 
ages, all  felt  it  alike.  Princes  on  the  throne  doubted  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  Church,  or  drove  the  Holy  Father  from  his 
capital.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  sacred  against  the  at- 
tacks of  the  wits  and  scholars  of  the  day.  Rabelais,  under 
the  mask  of  his  cynical  buffoonery,  made  the  clergy  a  laugh- 
ing-stock. Erasmus,  with  a  satire  as  keen  as  Voltaire's,  as- 
sailed the  most  prominent  abuses  of  the  Church.  Ulrich  von 
Hutten,  in  his  "  Epistles  of  Obscure  Men,"  attacked  the  same 
abuses,  with  less  polished  weapons  but  in  a  more  popular 
style.  But  if  the  iconoclasts  of  the  sixteenth  century  had 
used  no  other  arms  than  wit  and  satire,  and  done  no  more 
than  brand  the  vicious  lives  and  extortionate  practices  of  the 
clergy,  they  would  never  have  reformed  the  world.  The  doc- 
trines of  the  Church  had  degenerated  into  an  empty  formal- 
ism leaving  the  heart  untouched,  the  life  unchanged.  On  a 
sudden,  as  if  by  mutual  arrangement,  a  new  race  of  preachers 
sprang  xip  in  Europe.  Lefevre  in  France,  Zuingle  in  Switzer- 
land, Tyndale  in  England,  and  Luther  in  Germany,  all  taught 
the  same  doctrine.  In  each  country  the  Reformation  assumed 
a  peculiar  form,  though  preserving  the  same  general  charac- 
teristics; and  just  in  the  proportion  as  Protestantism  has 
yielded  to,  and  in  its  turn  moulded  these  characteristics,  it  has 
survived  and  flourished  to  the  present  time.  If  the  Reform 
was  almost  crushed  out  in  France,  it  was  because  it  took  too 
little  account  of  national  character.  And  yet  the  French 
Reformation  was  exclusively  of  native  growth.  Lefevre  and 
his  disciple  Farel  began  to  preach,  some  years  before  Luther, 
that  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  which  was  the 
foundation-stone  of  the  new  Church. 

There  are  men  who  still  deny  the  necessity  of  the  great  re- 
ligious revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  contend  that 
a  slight  reform  in  discipline,  such  as  a  pious  pope  would  have 
conceded,  was  all  that  the  Church  required.  But  if  such  a  re- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  3 

form  had  been  possible,  would  it  have  been  lasting?  "We 
have  seen  within  these  few  years  how  little  that  singular  phe- 
nomenon, a  liberal  pope,  can  do — how  impotent  he  is  when  the 
clergy  are  opposed  to  him.  It  is  very  probable  that  if  the 
Church  had  seriously  undertaken  to  reform  itself,  the  great 
disruption  never  would  have  taken  place ;  for,  as  Ranke  says, 
"Even  the  Protestants  severed  themselves  slowly  and  reluc- 
tantly from  the  communion  of  the  Church."  *  France  was 
fully  prepared  for  a  religious  reform.  The  king  had  made  his 
court  the  most  learned  centre  in  Europe ;  for  among  the  many 
noble  qualities  possessed  by  Francis  I.,  not  the  least  of  them 
was  the  patronage  he  extended  to  artists  and  men  of  letters. 
The  great  painters  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  and 
Rosso  were  invited  from  Italy  to  adorn  his  palaces  with  their 
magic  pencils.  Lascaris,  a  learned  Greek,  was  commissioned 
to  form  the  king's  library  at  Fontainebleau.  Under  the  ad- 
vice of  the  learned  Budasus  the  college  of  France  was  estab- 
lished for  the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages. 
This  great  intellectual  movement,  especially  the  study  of  He- 
brew, "  which  turned  Christians  into  Jews,"f  so  terrified  that 
guardian  of  orthodoxy,  the  theological  college  of  the  Sorbonne, 

that 

They  in  their  zeal  splenetic 
Forbade  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  tongues  as  heathen  and  heretic. 

So  wrote  Marot,  adding  that  they  proved  the  truth  of  the  old 
proverb,  "  Learning  has  for  enemy  no  creature  but  a  dunce." 

The  Church  of  France  was  no  worse  than  many  other  por- 
tions of  the  Roman  fold.  So  long  as  the  people  themselves 
were  ignorant,  the  ignorance  of  the  priesthood  did  not  trouble 
them ;  but  immediately  their  own  eyes  were  opened,  they  be- 
came conscious  of  the  deficiencies  of  their  pastors.  And  it 
would  have  been  well  for  them  had  ignorance  been  the  worst 
failing  of  the  clergy :  they  were  vicious  also.  A  contempora- 
ry manuscript  tells  us  that  "  many  are  so  ignorant  that  they 

*Hist.  of  Popes,  i.  120  (Mrs.  Austin's). 

t  From  a  sermon  quoted  by  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Fran$ais. 


4  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

can  not  interpret  what  is  said  in  the  course  of  divine  service, 
and  are  unable  to  read  or  write ;  so  negligent  that  they  have 
left  off  preaching  altogether.  .  .  .  They  take  delight  in  world- 
ly pleasures,  and  spend  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in  taverns, 
drinking,  gambling,  and  toying  with  women,  and  keep  a  tru- 
ande  in  their  houses."  *  How  the  priests  abused  the  simple 
confidence  of  their  flocks  is  evident  from  the  pious  frauds  they 
practiced,  particularly  in  the  matter  of  relics.  Of  one  instance 
of  this  tampering  with  the  religious  feelings  of  the  people,  it 
was  said,  "  that  either  the  Virgin  Mary  must  have  had  two 
mothers,  or  her  mother  must  have  had  two  heads."  A  feather 
from  the  angel  Gabriel's  wing,  or  a  bottle  of  Egyptian  dark- 
ness, were  silly  but  harmless  deceptions ;  but  there  were  oth- 
ers which  to  name  is  impossible.f 

In  the  field  thus  prepared  for  the  truth,  the  new  doctrines 
spread  rapidly,  one  great  help  to  their  diffusion  being  the  use 
of  the  French  language,  while  the  orthodox  clergy  stuck  so 
obstinately  to  their  Latin,  that  Antony  de  Mouchi,  surnamed 
Demochares,  felt  it  necessary  to  apologize  for  using  the  ver- 
nacular in  a  work  he  had  written  in  answer  to  a  Huguenot 
pamphlet.  J  At  first  the  converts  were  more  numerous  among 
the  educated  and  high-born,  than  among  the  low  and  unlet- 
tered multitude.  They  early  received  the  baptism  of  fire. 
In  1524,  while  Francis  I.  was  in  captivity  at  Madrid,  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris  revived  an  edict  of  Louis  XII.  concerning 
blasphemy,  and  nominated  a  commission  to  try  Lutherans  and 

*  Mem,  de  fAcad.  Stanislas,  Nancy,  1862,  p.  369. 

t  Here  are  some  of  the  objects  once  preserved  in  the  cathedral  of  Cler- 
mont: — "Imprimis  de  umbilico  Filii  Dei  cum  quinque  unguibus  de  sinis- 
tra  manu ;  przepucinm  ipsius  cum  duabus  unguibus  de  dextra  manu,  et  dc 
pannis  quibus  fuit  involutus,  et  undecimam  partem  sudarii  quod  fuit  ante 
oculos  ejus  cum  sanguine  ipsius,  et  de  tunica,  et  de  barba,  ct  de  capillis,  et 
de  prrccincto  ejus  cum  sanguine  et  tres  ungues  ejus  ex  recisione  mantis 
dexterae  et  partem  spinse  corona;,  ct  de  pane  quern  ipse  benedixit,  ct  ex 
spongia  ejus,  et  ex  virgis  quibus  ca;sus  fuit,  ct  de  capillis  Beatae  Mariae  tres 
et  brachiale  ejus,  et  de  vestimento  ipsius  cum  lactc." — Baluze,  ii.  p.  39 ; 
Dulaure,  Descript.  Auvergne,  p.  197. 

I  Reponse  a  qwlque  apoloyie,  etc.  1558,  fol.  2. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  o 

other  heretics.  In  the  following  year,  a  brief  of  Clement  VII. 
ratified  this  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the  Church,  ap- 
proving of  the  commissioners  or  inquisitors  appointed,  per- 
mitting them  to  enter  upon  their  duties  "  with  apostolical  au- 
thority," and  ordering  them  to  try  their  prisoners  "without 
noise  and  without  form  of  judgment,  as  is  the  custom  in  such 
cases."  *  This  bull,  besides  condemning  heretics  to  be  pun- 
ished in  body  and  goods,  forbade  all  persons  to  supply  them 
with  corn,  wine,  oil,  or  other  merchandise,  under  pain  of  being 
treated  as  accomplices.  That  this  bull  was  something  more 
than  an  empty  threat,  is  evident  from  a  letter  written  by 
Clement  to  congratulate  the  Parliament  of  Paris  on  the  way 
in  which  they  had  carried  it  out,  adding  "  that  the  new  errors 
were  as  opposed  to  the  State  as  to  the  Church."  We  need 
not  stop  to  show  that  the  kingdom  which  has  always  put  it- 
self forward  as  the  champion  of  Popery,  both  in  the  East  and 
in  the  West,  is  that  in  which  the  Church  and  the  State  have 
suffered  more  from  revolution  than  any  Protestant  country. 

One  of  the  first  victims  in  Paris  was  Jacques  Pavannes, 
who  procured  a  temporary  respite  by  recanting.  Although 
young  in  years,  he  afterward  showed  a  firmness  and  faith  that 
would  have  become  a  veteran  warrior  of  Christ.  Withdraw- 
ing his  recantation,  he  was  condemned  to  suffer  by  fire,  and 
when  at  the  stake  he  spoke  with  such  unction  that  a  doctor 
of  the  Sorbonne  declared  "  it  would  have  been  better  for  the 
Church  to  have  paid  a  million  of  money  than  have  allowed 
Pavannes  to  address  the  people."  (1525).  A  more  illustri- 
ous victim  was  Louis  de  Berquin,  scion  of  a  noble  family  of 
Artois:  by  his  scholarship  and  wit — he  was  of  the  Erasmian 
school — he  had  mortally  offended  the  monks  and  (if  the  ex- 
pression be  allowable)  the  old  fogyism  of  the  Sorbonne.  The 
king  and  his  sister,  Margaret  of  Valois,  had  saved  him  two  or 
three  times;  but  at  last  he  was  caught  in  the  toils,  and  his 

*  "  DC  piano,  sine  strepitu  ct  figura  judicii,  prout  in  similibus  consuevit." 
—  Isambcrt :  liecueil  des  Lois  /•>.  t.  xii.  p.  231. 


6  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

trial  was  hurried  on  so  that  Francis  should  not  have  the  op- 
portunity of  interfering.  (1529).  Fourteen  victims  of  less 
note  suffered  not  long  after ;  but  ideas  are  not  to  be  burned 
out  at  the  stake  or  stifled  in  prisons,  and  it  soon  became  evi- 
dent that  the  new  doctrines  were  spreading  wider  and  wider 
every  day.  "  The  smoke  of  these  sacrifices,"  says  Mezeray, 
"  had  got  into  people's  heads." 

The  followers  of  the  new  creed  had  but  one  friend  at  court, 
and  this  was  Margaret  of  Valois,  the  king's  sister,  a  pious  ten- 
der-hearted woman,  who  had  interposed  more  than  once  to 
rescue  the  victims  of  the  Sorbonne  and  of  Rome.  She  was 
not  a  Protestant,  and  shrank  from  any  rupture  with  Catholi- 
cism. She  would  have  liked  to  see  the  old  and  the  new  Church 
united,  each  yielding  something  to  the  other.  The  age,  how- 
ever, was  not  one  for  compromises.  Day  by  day  the  lines  of 
demarkation  became  more  strongly  marked,  especially  after 
the  publication  of  Calvin's  "  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Re- 
ligion" (1535),  which  became  at  once  the  text-book  and  the 
charter  of  the  evangelicals  in  France.  Calvin  was  a  thorough- 
going reformer.  To  adopt  a  familiar  distinction,  while  Luther 
rejected  nothing  that  was  not  condemned  by  Scripture,  Calvin 
accepted  nothing  that  was  not  directly  countenanced  by  it. 
Luther's  system  was,  probably,  the  wiser,  as  it  did  not  break 
directly  with  the  past ;  but  either  principle  carried  to  extremes 
is  faulty.  Looking  at  the  subsequent  history  of  Protestant- 
ism in  France,  we  can  see  how  (under  the  Calvinistic  form)  it 
excited  an  antagonism  never  felt  in  Germany ;  it  seemed  to 
aim  at  deposing  the  king  as  well  as  the  pope.  And  it  is 
doubtful  whether  such  a  cold  undecorated  form  of  religion  is 
suited  to  the  warm  and  impulsive  temperament  of  the  Celtic 
race  which  forms  the  lowest  stratum  of  the  French  popula- 
tion. 

In  France  it  was  long  before  the  Reformation  reached  the 
lower  classes — the  masses,  as  it  is  the  fashion  to  call  them ; 
the  rural  gently,  the  men  of  education,  the  well-to-do  trades- 
men, artists,  and  "  all  who  from  their  callings  possessed  any 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  7 

elevation  of  mind,"  were  the  first  converts.*  They  were  nat- 
urally opposed  by  the  clergy  and  the  lawyers,  for  corporate 
bodies  are  always  great  enemies  to  change. 

Francis  I.  appears  to  have  seen  the  desirability  of  a  reform 
in  the  Church,  not  so  much  from  religious  as  from  political 
motives.  He  hated  the  monks,  and  was  thwarted  by  the  Sor- 
bonne ;  he  read  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  his  sister  Margaret, 
and  took  the  extraordinary  step  of  inviting  Melanchthon  to 
France  in  order  to  arrange  some  compromise  by  which  Popery 
and  Protestantism  might  be  united.  It  was  a  vain  dream, 
even  if  the  king  were  sincere,  which  is  exceedingly  doubtful. 
He  might  at  one  time  have  pleaded  that  the  persecutions  were 
carried  on  without  his  knowledge  and  even  in  defiance  of 
him;  but  on  21st  January,  1535,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
burning  of  six  unfortunate  "Lutherans."  In  this  case  his 
pride  had  been  hurt  by  some  rude  and  indefensible  proceed- 
ings of  the  Reformed  party  ;f  but  he  could  be  equally  un- 
feeling and  unscrupulous  from  mere  political  expediency.  In 
the  same  month  of  January,  1535,  he  issued  a  royal  edict  com- 
manding the  instant  extirpation  of  heresy  in  every  form ;  all 
who  aided  or  harbored  heretics,  or  did  not  inform  against 
them,  were  to  be  punished  as  principals ;  and  informers  were 
to  receive  one-fourth  part  of  the  confiscation  and  fines — a  sure 
mode  of  procuring  victims.  This  decree  was  modified  in 
June,  when  Francis  was  coquetting  with  the  Protestant 
princes  of  Germany;  but  the  pains  and  penalties  were  only 
remitted  to  such  as  abjured  their  faith  and  returned  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Church.  On  1st  June,  1540,  appeared  the  fa- 

*  Florimond  de  Esmond :  Ilistoire  de  la  naissance,  etc.  de  Fheresie  de  ce 
siecle,  bk.  vii.  p.  931. 

t  Beza :  Hist.  Eccles.  liv.  i.  For  this  "  Affair  of  the  Placards  "  see  Merle 
d'Aubigne  :  Reform,  in  time  of  Calvin,  vol.  iii.  bk.  iv.  ch.  9  to  12.  A  pas- 
sage like  this  must  have  been  as  offensive  as  it  was  unjustifiable  :  "Nous  no 
voulons  croire  a  vos  idoles,  a  vos  lieux  nouveaux  et  nouveaux  Christs,  qui 
se  laissent  manger  aux  betes  et  &  vous  pareillement,  qui  etes  pires  que 
betes,  en  vos  badinages  lequels  vous  faites  a  1'entour  de  votre  dieu  de  pate 
duquel  vous  vous  jouez  comme  un  chat  d'une  souris,"  etc. 


8  MASSACRE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

mous  edict  of  Fontainebleau,  confirming  all  previous  edicts, 
and  ordering  the  strictest  search  to  be  made  for  heretics ;  and, 
as  if  its  provisions  were  not  harsh  enough,  letters  patent  were 
issued  at  the  end  of  October,  1542,  enjoining  every  parliament 
in  the  kingdom  to  "  execute  prompt  and  rigorous  judgment," 
so  that  the  new  heresy  might  be  destroyed  root  and  branch. 
No  time  was  lost  in  carrying  out  these  dreadful  instructions. 
Among  the  victims  of  this  renewed  persecution  was  one  Dela- 
voye,  who  being  told  that  a  warrant  was  out  against  him,  and 
that  the  officers  were  on  their  way  to  seize  him,  refused  to 
hide  himself  as  his  friends  advised.  "Hirelings  and  false 
prophets  may  do  so,"  he  said ;  "  but  following  the  example  of 
St.  Paul,  'I am  ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  for 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." '  Another  sufferer,  Constantino 
by  name,  was  taken  to  execution  in  a  scavenger's  cart.  In  al- 
lusion to  this  he  said,  "  Truly  hath  the  apostle  declared,  '  We 
are  as  the  filth  of  the  earth,  and  the  offscouring  of  all  things.1 
We  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  the  men  of  this  world ;  but  let  us 
rejoice,  for  the  savor  of  our  death  will  be  acceptable  to  God 
and  serviceable  to  the  Church." 

A  German  residing  in  Paris  in  the  summer  of  1542  wrote 
to  a  friend  an  account  of  the  execution  of  two  heretics  which 
he  had  witnessed.  In  his  letter  we  learn  how  sympathy  for 
the  victims  tended  to  make  converts.  One  of  them  was  a 
smooth-cheeked  youth  under  twenty  years  of  age,  the  son  of  a 
shoe-maker ;  the  other,  a  man  with  a  long  white  beard,  stoop- 
ing under  the  burden  of  fourscore  years.  The  young  man 
had  spoken  contemptuously  of  images,  comparing  them  to  the 
gods  of  the  heathen;  the  old  man  had  protested  against 
prayers  to  the  saints,  and  had  declared  that  all  Christians  were 
priests.  Both  were  condemned  to  suffer  at  the  same  stake 
for  their  "  Lutheranism,"  as  it  was  called.  As  the  youth  re- 
fused to  retract,  he  was  to  have  his  tongue  cut  out.  No 
change  could  be  observed  in  his  face  when  the  hangman  ap- 
proached him  to  perform  this  first  act  of  cruelty.  He  put 
the  tongue  out  as  far  as  he  could,  the  torturer  pulled  it  out 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  9 

still  farther  with  pinchers,  and  cut  it  off,  slapping  the  martyr 
with  it  on  the  cheek.  He  then  threw  the  tongue  among  the 
crowd,  who,  "it  is  said,"  adds  the  writer  conscientiously, 
"picked  it  up  and  flung  it  back  in  the  martyr's  face.  As 
he  got  out  of  the  cart,  he  looked  as  if  he  were  going  to  a 
feast  and  not  to  punishment."  Unmoved  by  the  howling  and 
the  savage  cries  of  the  mob,  he  took  his  place  calmly  at  the 
post,  where  a  chain  was  passed  round  him.  He  now  and 
then  spat  the  blood  from  his  mouth,  but  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on 
heaven,  as  if  looking  there  for  help.  When  the  executioner 
covered  his  head  Avith  sulphur  and  pointed  to  the  fire,  he  still 
smiled  and  bowed,  as  if  to  show  he  died  willingly.  The  old 
man,  who  was  the  father  of  a  large  family  and  much  re- 
spected for  his  upright  life,  had  retracted,  and  his  punishment 
was  consequently  modified.  He  was  strangled  before  being 
thrown  into  the  flames;  "yet  some,"  adds  the  eye-witness, 
"  thought  this  punishment  too  mild,  and  would  have  had  him 
burned  alive."  * 

The  histoiy  of  persecution  contains  little  novelty:  it  is 
the  same  story  of  calumnious  accusations  and  savage  fury 
from  the  letter  of  Pliny  to  the  invectives  of  the  monks  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  council  which  assembled  at 
Bourges  in  1528  not  only  condemned  all  Lutheran  doctrines 
whatsoever,  but  compared  heretics  with  sorcerers  and  magi- 
cians in  order  to  render  them  more  odious.  The  Reformers 
were  accused  of  being  bad  subjects,  rebels,  revolutionists, 
aiming  at  the  overthrow  of  the  monarchy  as  well  as  the  per- 
version of  religion.  This  Francis  I.  pretended  to  believe, 
though  he  knew  better ;  and  it  is  this  charge  which  Calvin  so 
eloquently  refutes  in  his  "  Letter  to  the  King,"  prefixed  to 
his  "  Christian  Institutes."  "  Is  it  possible,"  he  asks,  "  that 
we  who  have  never  been  heard  to  utter  a  seditious  word,  and 
whose  lives  have  always  been  known  to  be  simple  and  peace- 


*  Eustathins  de  KnobelsdorfF  to  Georpe  Cassander,  in  Illustr.  ft  Clur. 
Viror.  JE/rist.  Setecta.,  Lugd.  Bat.  1617,  quoted  in  Baum  :  Leben  Ileza's. 


10  MASSACRE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

able,  should  be  plotting  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom? 
And  what  is  more,  being  now  driven  from  our  homes  (he  is 
referring  particularly  to  the  emigration  after  the  persecutions 
of  1534),  we  cease  not  to  pray  for  your  prosperity.  .  .  . 
Praised  be  God,  we  have  not  profited  so  ill  by  the  gospel, 
that  our  lives  can  not  hold  forth  to  our  detractors  an  example 
of  liberality,  chastity,  compassion,  temperance,  patience,  mod- 
esty, and  all  other  virtues.  Verily  the  truth  beareth  witness 
for  us  that  we  fear  and  honor  God  purely,  when  by  our  life 
and  by  our  death  we  desire  his  name  to  be  sanctified."  In 
the  "Institutes"  he  went  still  farther,  laying  down  principles 
that  almost  consecrate  oppression.  "  We  must  show  a  wick- 
ed tyrant  such  honor  as  our  Lord  has  condescended  to  or- 
dain. .  .  .  We  must  show  this  obedience  through  fear  of 
God,  as  we  serve  God  himself,  since  it  is  'from  him  that 
princes  derive  their  power."  This  obedience,  however,  he  is 
very  careful  to  restrict  to  secular  matters.  "  When  God  or- 
dained mortals  to  rule,  he  did  not  abdicate  his  rights.  If 
kings  command  any  thing  contrary  to  him  it  should  have  no 
honor,  for,  says  Peter,  we  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than 
men." 

The  cruelties  of  this  age  may  be  accounted  for,  though 
they  can  not  be  excused.  Within  the  memory  of  living  men, 
political  heretics  have  been  punished  quite  as  severely  (the 
stake  excepted)  as  religious  heretics,  and  that  too  without 
the  same  excuse.  The  priest  when  he  burned  the  body 
hoped,  or  professed  to  hope,  to  save  the  soul :  the  political 
heretic  was  often  sacrificed  to  secure  a  party  or  a  minister  in 
power.  The  persecutors  of  the  sixteenth  century  must  not, 
therefore,  be  overwhelmed  with  inconsiderate  reproval :  they 
were  but  men,  living  in  an  age  when  persecution  was  a  duty, 
and  heretics  had  no  rights.  There  is  still  too  much  of  the 
savage  in  the  human  breast,  though,  civilization  has  done 
much  to  extinguish  it ;  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  the  savage 
was  uppermost.  But  so  remarkably  did  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  prove  the  seed  of  the  Church,  that  a  Catholic  writer 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  11 

compares  the  "  Lutherans "  of  this  time  to  the  fabulous  hy- 
dra ;  when  one  head  was  cut  off,  two  sprang  up  in  its  place. 
And  no  wonder ;  for  the  author  of  the  "History  of  Heresies" 
writes  of  these  martyrs,  even  while  ascribing  their,  patient 
endurance  to  satanic  influence,  "  that  Christianity  had  revived 
in  all  its  primitive  simplicity." 

In  1544  Francis  I.  concluded  the  treaty  of  Crespy  with 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  by  which  the  two  jnonarchs  bound 
themselves  to  exterminate  heresy  within  their  respective  do- 
minions. The  king  chanced  to  be  ill  of  a  dangerous  disease 
brought  on  by  his  licentiousness,  and  for  five  or  six  weeks 
his  life  hung  upon  a  thread.  The  bigoted  Cardinal  de  Tour- 
non,  making  him  believe  that  his  sufferings  were  a  judgment 
from  God,  urged  him  to  propitiate  heaven  by  destroying 
heresy.  Moved  by  these  motives,  and  by  misrepresentations 
which  the  victims  had  no  opportunity  of  correcting,  for  they 
were  never  heard,  Francis  issued  an  order  for  the  extir- 
pation of  the  Waldenses  of  Provence,  who  appear  to  have 
excited  the  wrath  of  the  clergy  to  a  terrible  height.  These 
Vaudois,  as  they  are  usually  called,  the  better  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  Waldenses  of  Savoy,  lived  in  the  south-east 
corner  of  France,  between  the  Durance  and  the  Alps.  They 
were  a  peaceable,  God-fearing,  industrious  race,*  and  had 
been  a  living  protest  against  the  Church  of  Rome  for  hun- 
dreds of  years — even  from  the  days  of  Constantino,  if  their 
annals  may  be  trusted.  Louis  XII.  is  reported  to  have 
called  them  "  better  Christians  than  himself  ;"f  and  a  Rom- 
ish missionary,  who  was  sent  to  turn  them  from  the  error 
of  their  ways,  was  himself  converted  and  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge that  "  he  had  learned  more  from  the  little  Vaudois  chil- 


*  Hist,  desguerres  dans  h  Venaissin,  etc.  i.  p.  39.  Published  anonymously, 
hut  the  author  was  Father  Justin,  a  Capuchin  monk.  See  also  Muston  : 
Israel  des  Alpes,  1851 . 

t  Bossuet  (Hist,  des  Variations,  liv.  xi.  §  143)  acknowledges  their  piety, 
hut  calls  it  "  feigned,"  and  ascribes  their  virtues  to  the  inspiration  of  the 
devil. 


12  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

(Iron  than  lie  had  ever  clone  at  college."  In  the  wildest 
valleys  of  the  Alps,  and  on  rocky  heights  where  the  cham- 
ois could  hardly  keep  his  footing,  they  built  their  huts  and 
tended  their  flocks.  They  had  covered  a  barren  district 
with  smiling  harvests,  "  making  the  desert  blossom  as  the 
rose."  Du  Bellay,  governor  of  Piedmont,  describes  them  as 
"  a  simple  people,"  paying  their  taille  to  the  crown  and  the 
droits  to  their  lord  more  regularly  than  their  orthodox  neigh- 
bors. But  their  virtues  were  their  chief  crime  in  the  eyes  of 
the  king's  clerical  advisers.  In  1540  the  Parliament  of  Prov- 
ence had  condemned  twenty-three  of  these  poor  creatures  to 
be  burned  alive  for  contumacy,  and  ordered  their  country  to 
be  laid  waste.  The  sanguinary  decree  farther  directed  the 
towns  of  Merindol  and  Cabrieres,  and  other  places,  which 
had  been  the  refuge  and  retreat  of  the  heretics,  to  be  razed  to 
the  ground,  the  caves  which  had  served  them  for  an  asylum 
to  be  destroyed,  the  forests  cut  down,  the  fruit-trees  rooted 
up,  the  rebel  chiefs  put  to  death,  and  their  wives  and  children 
banished  for  life."*  Some  friends  of  the  poor  Vaudois  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  decree  suspended  until  1st  January, 
1545  ;  when  Francis  I.,  hoping  to  do  a  meritorious  work  that 
would  atone  for  his  dissolute  life,  ordered  it  to  be  enforced. 
To  John  Menier,  baron  of  Oppede,  and  chief  president  of  the 
Parliament  of  Provence,  was  entrusted  the  task  of  carrying 
out  the  royal  decree.  He  was  one  of  those  happily  rare  indi- 
viduals who  delight  in  slaughter  from  mere  blood-thirstiness. 
He  made  no  distinction  between  believers  and  heretics.  The 
troops  under  his  orders — wild  mercenaries  with  more  of  the 
brigand  than  of  the  disciplined  soldier — wasted  the  country 
with  fire  and  sword.  From  the  frightful  detail  of  cruelties 
one  little  fact  may  be  gathered  characteristic  of  the  man. 
All  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Merindol,  which  stood  on 
the  Durance,f  were  put  to  the  sword,  with  the  exception  of 

*  Cabasse  :  Hist.  Par?.  Provence. 

t  II  n'cxistc  plus  ricn  du  bourg  florissant  de  Merindol.  Lacretelle :  Guerrcs 
de  Rel.  i.  p.  31. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  13 

one  person,  a  poor  idiot,  who  had  ransomed  his  life  by  prom- 
ising a  soldier  two  crowns!  Oppede  heard  of  it,  and  sending 
for  the  soldier,  gave  him  the  two  crowns,  and  having  thus 
bought  the  prisoner,  ordered  him  to  be  tied  to  a  tree  and  shot 
forthwith.  "  I  know  how  to  treat  these  people,"  he  roared 
out ;  "  I  will  send  them,  children  and  all,  to  live  in  hell." 
The  small  town  of  Cabrieres,  in  the  same  neighborhood  and  a 
little  south  of  the  poetic  Vaucluse,  was  treated  with  similar 
severity.  Every  house  was  destroyed ;  between  700  and  800 
persons  were  killed  in  the  streets  or  fields ;  a  number  of 
women  who  had  fled  for  refuge  to  a  barn  were  burned  to 
death,  and  those  who  had  escaped  the  sword  and  fire  were 
sent  to  the  galleys  "  with  circumstances  of  inhumanity,"  says 
the  historian,  "  that  would  have  deserved  our  pity  on  any 
other  occasion."  *  "  In  one  church,"  says  Guerin, "  I  saw  be- 
tween four  and  five  hundred  poor  souls  of  women  and  chil- 
dren butchered."  Twenty-five  women — 

Praecipites  atra  ecu  tcmpcstate  columbce 
Condense — 

who  had  taken  refuge  in  a  cavern  in  the  papal  territory  of 
Avignon,  were  smothered  to  death,  the  vice-legate  kindling 
the  fire  with  his  own  hands.f  In  fine,  twenty-four  towns 
and  villages  were  destroyed  and  3000  persons  put  to  death. 
Such  little  boys  and  girls  as  the  soldiers  did  not  want  were 
sold  into  slavery :  they  might  be  purchased  for  a  crown  apiece. 
And  that  none  might  escape,  the  Parliament  of  Provence  is- 
sued a  proclamation,  forbidding  the  neighbors  to  offer  the 
Vaudois  either  food  or  shelter,  so  that  many  were  starved  to 
death  in  the  mountains.^ 

*  Mezeray,  iii.  p.  1034. 

t  Some  years  ago  a  cave  in  a  wild  and  almost  inaccessible  valley  of  the 
Maritime  Alps,  near  the  village  of  Castiglione,  was  pointed  out  to  me  as  one 
of  these  places  of  refuge.  It  could  be  reached  only  by  a  rope,  and  consist- 
ed of  at  least  three  chambers,  one  below  the  other.  In  the  Vivarrais  there 
are  many  such  caverns. 

J  Bouche  calls  them,  "plutot  ignorans  que  rebelles,"  and  adds,  "On 
trouve  dans  1'histoire  des  nations  Ics  plus  fanatiques  et  les  plus  sauvages  peu 


14  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  tale  of  these  fearful  atrocities  provoked  a  cry  of  indig- 
nation from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other :  *  even  the 
king  complained  that  his  orders  had  been  exceeded,  but  not 
until  after  the  letters  patent  of  18th  August,  1545,  approving 
of  all  that  had  been  done.  We  are  told  that  the  memories  of 
these  cruelties  haunted  his  dying-bed,  and  that  he  bequeathed 
to  his  son  the  duty  of  taking  vengeance  on  the  murderers  of 
the  Vaudois.  This  may  be  true,  but  when  the  Swiss  cantons 
remonstrated  with  him  for  his  cruelty,  he  bade  them  mind 
their  own  business,  for  the  heretics  had  merely  received  the 
just  reward  of  their  crimes.  The  only  person  punished  for 
these  horrors — and  that  was  at  the  suit  of  Madame  de  Cantal, 
whose  property  had  been  ruined  by  the  slaughter  of  her  peas- 
antry— was  one  Guerin,  king's  advocate  in  the  Parliament  of 
Aix.f  M.  d'Oppede  appears  to  have  been  so  terrified  at  the 
mere  idea  of  being  tried,  that  he  fell  ill  and  died  in  great  suf- 
fering; a  judgment  of  God,  as  the  Reformed  declared  it.  A 
Catholic  historian  of  these  days  has  ventured  to  apologize  for 
cruelties  which  could  find  no  defender  in  the  sixteenth  centu- 
ry. "  Certain  names,"  he  says,  "  are  branded  for  what  is  the 
result  of  a  popular  force  and  movement  by  which  they  are  car- 
ried away.  In  a  religious  and  believing  state  of  society  there 
are  necessities,  as  there  have  been  cruel  political  necessities  at 
another  epoch.  Exaltation  of  ideas  drives  men  to  crime  as  by 
a  fatality."  J  Such  reasoning  will  justify  any  crime,  public  or 
private.  To  admit  the  cowardly  doctrine  of  "  necessity,"  is  to 


d'exemples  d'une  atrocite  pareille." — Essai  sur  THist.  de  Provence,  ii.  p.  83. 
See  Papon,  Hist,  de  Provence,  for  a  less  favorable  account  of  the  Vaudois. 

Viroset  morte  peremptos 
Indigna,  raptasque  soluto  crine  puellas, 
Et  late  miseris  subjecta  inccndia  vicis. 

L'Hopital,  De  Causa  Merindoli. 

t  All  the  papers  connected  with  this  inquiry  have  perished.     One  of  the 
accused  was  the  famous  sea-captain  Baron  de  la  Garde,  the  same  who  dis- 
puted the  command  of  the  Channel  against  Henry  VIII.,  and  occupied  the 
Isle  of  Wight  in  1533.     In  the  religious  wars  he  sided  with  the  Huguenots. 
J  Capcfigue  :  Hist,  de  la  lleforme,  ch.  xvi. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  15 

destroy  moral  responsibility,  to  make  intellect  subservient  to 
matter,  and  justice  to  brute  force.  It  makes  the  usurper  or 
the  murderer  accuser,  jxidge  and  executioner  in  his  own  cause. 
It  is  a  vindication  of  coups  d""etat — a  deification  of  successful 
villainy.  If  generally  admitted,  it  would  induce  a  moral  tor- 
por fatal  to  all  intelligence.  There  were  men  living  in  the 
Catholic  communion  in  the  sixteenth  century  who  thought 
very  differently  from  the  paradoxical  historian  of  the  nine- 
teenth. Sadolet,  Bishop  of  Carpentras — a  man  so  full  of  kind- 
ness and  charity  that  a  modern  writer  has  called  him  the 
"  Fenelon  of  his  age  " — interfered  to  suspend  the  execution  of 
the  first  decree  against  the  Vaudois  of  Merindol.  He  was  a 
ripe  scholar  and  corresponded  with  all  the  learned  men  of  the 
day,  heretical  or  orthodox,  including  Calvin  and  Melanchthon. 
To  the  latter  he  wrote  :  "  I  am  not  the  man  to  hate  another 
because  he  differs  from  me  in  opinion."  *  When  Sturm  of 
Strasburg  accused  him  of  lying,  he  said :  "  You  should  have 
left  such  coarse  terms  to  Luther :  they  are  unbecoming  a  mind 
like  yours.  But  you  are  mistaken,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  re- 
turn to  your  usual  polite  style.  If  ever  you,  Bucer,  or  Melanch- 
thon have  need  of  me,  I  am  ready  to  serve  you  in  more  than 
words."  It  is  pleasing  to  meet  with  such  a  character,  when 
religious  prejudice  ran  so  high  on  both  sides. 

One  of  the  most  terrible  tragedies  to  which  the  persecuting 
edicts  gave  rise  occurred  at  Meaux,  in  October,  1546,  when 
sixty  persons  were  seized  in  the  house  of  Stephen  Mangin, 
where  they  had  met  to  hear  a  sermon.  As  the  soldiers  were 
taking  them  through  the  streets  to  prison,  some  of  the  Protest- 
ant spectators  burst  out  with  Marot's  noble  version  of  the  sev- 
enty-ninth Psalm — 

Behold,  O  God !  how  heathen  hosts 

Have  thy  possessions  seized  ; 
Thy  sacred  house  they  have  defiled, 

Thy  holy  city  raz'd. 

*  Non  ego  sum  qui,  nt  quisque  a  nobis  opinione  dissentit,  statim  cum  odio 
habeam. 


16  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

From  Meaux  they  were  transferred  to  Paris  for  trial,  which 
resolved  itself  into  an  attempt  to  extort  a  confession  from  them 
by  torture.  They  were  sentenced  to  be  carried  back  to 
Meaux,  and  fourteen  of  them  were  to  be  burned  alive  in  the 
market-place,  after  suffering  the  question  extraordinary.  Oth- 
ers were  to  be  hung  up  by  the  shoulders  during  the  execution 
of  their  brethren,  and  then  to  be  flogged  and  imprisoned  for 
life  in  a  monastery.  As  they  were  passing  through  a  forest 
on  their  way  back,  a  man  followed  them  shouting :  "  Brethren, 
remember  Him  who  is  in  heaven  above."  He  was  caught, 
flung  into  the  cart,  and  put  to  death  with  the  rest.  Stephen 
Mangin,  wrho  was  regarded  as  the  ringleader,  first  had  his 
tongue  cut  out ;  he  was  then  dragged  on  a  hurdle  from  the 
prison  to  the  place  of  execution,  where  he  and  his  companions, 
after  being  tortured,  were  burned  at  fourteen  stakes  arranged 
in  a  circle,  praising  God  to  their  last  breath.  One  Dr.  Picard, 
a  celebrated  man  in  his  day,  preached  a  sermon  on  the  occasion, 
in  which  he  declared  it  was  necessary  to  salvation  to  believe 
that  these  fourteen  poor  creatures  were  condemned  to  the 
bottomless  pit ;  and  if  an  angel  came  from  heaven  to  say  the 
contrary,  he  must  not  be  listened  to  ;  "  for  God  would  not  be 
God,  if  he  did  not  damn  them  eternally." 

The  example  thus  set  at  Meaux  was  imitated  in  other  parts 
of  France  5  but,  far  from  checking  the  progress  of  the  new 
doctrines,  it  served  to  prove  the  strong  faith  of  the  converts. 
Thus  Jean  Chapot,  wrho  had  been  denounced  for  bringing  a 
bale  of  heretical  books  from  Geneva,  would  not  give  up  the 
names  of  the  persons  to  whom  he  had  sold  them,  though  he 
was  almost  torn  asunder  on  the  rack.  One  Mark  Moreau  of  • 
Troyes  displayed  similar  firmness  and  constancy  at  the  stake, 
to  which  he  was  condemned  after  being  tortured,  because  he 
refused  to  betray  the  other  Lutherans  in  that  city.  Francis 
Daugy  cried  out  from  the  midst  of  the  flames :  "  Be  of  good 
cheer,  brethren,  I  see  heaven  opening  and  the  Son  of  God 
stretching  out  his  arms  to  receive  me."  As  the  Demoiselle 
Michelle  de  Caignoncle  was  going  to  the  stake,  one  of  her 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  17 

poor  pensioners  ran  by  her  side  crying  :  "  You  will  never  give 
us  alms  again."  "  Yes,  once  more  !"  she  said,  and  threw  her 
slippers  to  the  woman,  who  was  barefoot.  One  Thomas  of  St. 
Paul  was  taken  out  of  the  flames  and  urged  to  recant.  "  Put 
me  back  into  the  fire,"  he  exclaimed :  "  I  am  on  the  road  to 
heaven." 

Among  the  victims  of  this  reign  was  one  whose  name  occu- 
pies a  conspicuous  place  in  the  history  of  the  revival  of  learn- 
ing. Stephen  Dolet,  famous  among  the  poets  of  the  Renais- 
sance, had  set  up  a  printing-press  at  Lyons,  where  he  appears 
to  have  been  unpopular  among  those  of  his  own  trade,  through 
supporting  the  compositors  who  had  "struck"  for  higher 
wages.  He  had  been  twice  condemned  for  heresy :  once  on 
the  information  of  the  infamous  Anthony  Mouchi,  a  doctor  of 
the  Sorbonne  and  heretic-finder  to  the  Inquisition,  who  has 
transmitted  his  name  to  posterity  under  the  form  of  mouchard. 
Dolet  had  escaped  to  Piedmont ;  but  yearning  with  that  love 
for  his  native  country,  which  is  so  strong  a  characteristic  of 
the  French  people,  he  returned  to  Lyons,  where  he  was  speed- 
ily arrested  and  carried  to  Paris.  Here  he  was  accused  and 
convicted  of  atheism,  the  charge  being  founded  on  his  trans- 
lation of  a  passage  in  Phto.  While  in  prison,  hourly  expect- 
ing death,  he  exclaimed  :  "  My  whole  life  has  been  a  struggle ; 
thank  God,  it  is  over  at  last."*  When  he  was  led  to  the 
stake  in  the  Place  Maubert,  the  executioner  bade  him  invoke 
the  Virgin  and  St.  Stephen,  his  patron  saint,  or  else  his  tongue 
would  be  cut  out  and  he  would  be  burned  ah"  ve.  Dolet  repeat- 
ed the  required  formula,  and  then  was  hanged  and  burned  (3d 
August,  1546).  Dolet  must  not  be  ranked  among  the  mar- 
tyrs of  religion  :  he  suffered  because  he  had  offended  the  cler- 
gy by  his  independent  spirit.  The  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne 

*  In  a  poem  composed  at  this  time,  he  says,  with  more  of  Pagan  stoicism 
than  Christian  fortitude — 

Stm,  mon  esprit,  montrez  vous  de  tel  coenr, 

Votre  assurance  au  besoin  soil  connue ; 
Tout  gentil  coenr,  tout  constant  belliqueur, 

Jusqu'a  la  mort  sa  foroe  a  maintenue. 

B 


18  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

would  willingly  have  forgiven  liis  being  a  printer  and  an  athe- 
ist, if  he  had  not  stood  forward  as  the  champion  of  free 
thought. 

Robert  Etienne  (or  Stephens,  as  he  is  called  by  English 
scholars)  was  more  fortunate  than  Dolet.  Up  to  the  age  of 
twenty-five  he  continued  in  the  Romish  Church,  professing  a 
doubtful  sort  of  orthodoxy,  like  many  other  celebrated  men  of 
that  day ;  and  it  is  probable  that  he  would  have  continued  in 
this  undecided  equivocal  state  all  his  life,  but  for  the  virulent 
attacks  made  upon  him  by  certain  theologians,  who  were  vio- 
lent in  proportion  to  their  stupidity.  His  quarrel  with  the 
Sorbonne  began  as  early  as  1523,  when  that  same  body,  which 
in  1470  had  invited  the  first  printers  to  Paris,  took  alarm  at 
the  agitation  of  men's  minds  and  turned  fiercely  against  its 
own  work.  The  presumption  of  a  young  man,  and  he  a  lay- 
man, to  correct  a  text  of  Scripture,  seemed  monstrous.  The 
publication  of  his  Latin  Bibles  in  1528  and  1532,  and  more  es- 
pecially that  of  the  small  portable  Bible  in  1534,  aggravated 
their  hostility.  But  all  this  was  as  nothing  to  the  rage  ex- 
cited by  his  edition  of  the  Latin  Bible  in  1545,  wherein  he  had 
collected  the  notes  of  that  learned  professor  of  Hebrew,  Fran- 
cis Vatable.  In  these  notes  the  active  inquisitors  of  the  Sor- 
bonne found  a  number  of  heretical  propositions,  such  as  a  de- 
nial of  the  existence  of  purgatory,  of  the  efficaciousness  of  con- 
fession, and  so  forth.  Hitherto  Robert  had  been  able  to  es- 
cape the  fate  of  his  heterodox  brother  Dolet,  through  the  in- 
tervention of  the  king  and  the  influence  of  John  du  Bellay  and 
others.  But  against  this  last  tempest  the  royal  authority 
seemed  powerless.  The  Faculty  of  Theology  instituted  pro- 
ceedings against  him,  when,  unhappily  for  him,  Francis  I. 
died ;  and  although  Robert  Etienne  found  an  equally  kind 
patron  in  his  successor,  the  character  of  the  new  king  was 
more  impressionable.  The  Sorbonne  attacked  him  more  vio- 
lently, and  foreseeing  that  Henry  would  be  unable  to  protect 
him,  he  quitted  France,  as  Clement  Marot,  Olivetan,  Amyot, 
and  most  of  the  professors  of  the  Royal  College  had  done  be- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  19 

fore  him.  Beza  tells  us  that  all  learning  was  suspected,  and 
that  hence  many  good  but  learned  Catholics  were  numbered 
among  the  heretics.  A  man  was  liable  to  be  condemned  for 
not  lifting  his  cap  on  passing  an  image  (and  they  were  at  the 
corner  of  almost  every  street),  for  not  kneeling  at  the  sound 
of  the  Ave  Maria  bell,  and  for  eating  meat  on  fast  days. 
Clement  Marot  was  sent  to  prison  and  narrowly  escaped  burn- 
ing for  eating  some  bacon  during  Lent. 

Us  vinrent  a  mon  logement : 
Lors  se  va  dire  un  gros  paillard, 

Par  la,  morblcu,  voila  Clement, 
Prenez-le,  il  a  mange'  le  lard ! 

The  fasting,  or  not  fasting,  on  certain  days  soon  became  a  test 
of  orthodoxy. 

One  of  the  last  victims  of  this  reign  was  Jean  Brugiere, 
who,  after  several  imprisonments  and  escapes,  was  taken  to 
Paris,  tried,  and  condemned  to  be  burned  alive  at  Issoire  (3d 
March,  1547).  He  was  transferred  to  Montferrand,  where 
Ory,  the  inquisitor,  discussed  the  "  real  presence "  with  him. 
"  If  you  deny,"  said  Ory,  "  that  the  body  of  our  Lord  is  in 
the  host,  when  the  priest  has  pronounced  the  sacramental 
words,  you  deny  the  power  of  God, who  can  do  everything.'" 
"  I  do  not  deny  the  power  of  God,"  answered  Brugiere,  "  for 
AVC  are  not  disputing  whether  God  has  power  or  not  to  do  it, 
so  much  as  what  he  has  done  in  his  Holy  Sacrament,  and  what 
he  desires  us  to  do."  When  the  time  of  his  suffering  came, 
the  priests  pressed  a  crucifix  to  his  lips,  and  bade  him  call  on 
the  Virgin  and  saints.  "  Let  me,"  he  said  with  a  smile, "  let 
me  think  of  God  before  I  die.  I  am  content  with  the  only 
advocate  he  has  appointed  for  sinners."  While  preparing  the 
rope  or  chain,  the  executioner  slipped  and  f  eh1.  Brugiere,  who 
remained  calm  and  unmoved,  held  out  his  hand  to  raise  him. 
"  Cheer  up !  M.  Pouchet,  I  hope  you  are  not  hurt,"  he  said. 
When  the  fire  was  kindled,  he  raised  his  eyes  to  the  cross  and 
exclaimed  :  "  Oh  heavenly  Father,  I  beseech  thee,  for  the  love 
of  thy  Son,  that  thou  wilt  be  pleased  to  comfort  me  in  this 


20  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

hour  by  thy  Holy  Spirit,  in  order  that  the  work  begun  in  me 
may  be  perfected  to  thy  glory  and  to  the  benefit  of  thy  poor 
Church."  When  all  was  over,  the  crowd  withdrew  in  silence. 
The  curate  of  Issoire  said,  as  he  returned  home :  "  May  God 
give  me  grace  to  die  in  the  faith  of  Brugiere."  * 

Francis  I.  died  slowly  of  a  disgusting  malady,  the  conse- 
quence of  his  licentious  amours.  For  a  time  his  life  was  pro- 
longed by  the  use  of  potent  medicines ;  but  the  opportunity 
thus  given  him  of  redeeming  the  past  was  wasted  in  regrets 
that  he  had  not  extirpated  heresy,  f  He  used  often  to  say,  if 
we  may  credit  Brantome,  that  this  novelty — the  Reformation 
— "  tended  to  the  overthrow  of  all  monarchy,  human  and  di- 
vine." Yet  none  of  the  kings  who  embraced  the  new  creed 
lost  their  thrones ;  while  the  devotee  Henry  III.,  and  the  con- 
verted Henry  IV.,  both  fell  by  orthodox  daggers.  The  king's 
funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Pierre  du  Chastel,  Bishop  of 
Macon,  whose  orthodoxy  had  become  suspected  in  consequence 
of  the  attempts  he  had  made  to  save  Stephen  Dolet.  When 
Cardinal  de  Tournon  reproached  him  with  this,  the  good  prel- 
ate made  answer :  "  I  acted  like  a  bishop,  you  like  a  hang- 
man." When  the  sermon  was  published,  the  Sorbonne  hunt- 
ed out  several  heretical  propositions,  particularly  a  passage 
where  the  bishop,  after  extolling  Francis  as  a  saint  of  the 
highest  order,  continued  :  "  I  am  convinced  that,  after  so  holy 
a  life,  the  king's  soul,  on  leaving  his  body,  was  transported  to 
heaven  without  passing  through  the  flames  of  purgatory."  J 
The  Sorbonne  protested  against  this,  and  a  deputation  of 


*  Imberdis :  Hist.  Guterres  Civ.     8vo.  Moulins,  1840. 

t  A  carious  apology  has  been  made  for  Francis  I.  Mezerny.  answering 
an  Italian  writer,  who  had  insinuated  that  the  king  had  permitted  the  spread 
of  heresy  by  taking  ho  heed  of  it,  says : — "  Quoi  done,  faire  six  ou  sept  ri£- 
oureux  edits  pour  1'e'touffer,  convoquer  plusieurs  fois  le  clerge',  assembler  un 
concile  provincial,  depecher  k  toute  heure  des  ambassades  vers  tous  les  princes 
de  la  chre'tiente  pour  en  assembler  un  ge'ne'ral,  bruler  les  here"tiques  par  dou- 
zaines,  les  envoyer  aux  galores  par  centaines,  et  les  bannir  par  milliers  :  est- 
ce  Ik  permettre,  ou  n'y  prendre  pas  garde,"  etc.  ii.  p.  1038. 

J  P.  Castellani  Vita,  auct.  P.'  Gallandio,  8vo.  1674. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW,  21 

doctors  went  to  St.  Germains,  where  the  court  was  staying,  to 
denounce  the  heretical  panegyrist.  They  were  received  by 
John  de  Mendoza,  the  first  chamberlain,  who  desired  them  to 
be  quite  easy  in  their  minds :  "  If  you  had  known  His  Majesty 
as  well  as  I  did,  you  would  have  understood  the  meaning  of  the 
bishop's  words.  The  king  could  never  stop  anywhere,  how- 
ever agreeable  the  place  might  be ;  and  if  he  went  to  purgato- 
ry, he  only  remained  there  long  enough  to  look  about  him, 
and  was  off  again."  Solvuntur  risu  tabulce  !  The  doctors 
retired  in  confusion :  there  was  no  answering  such  a  jest. 

The  character  of  Francis  is  a  "  mingled  yarn."  He  had 
great  virtues,  but  he  also  had  great  vices.  He  had  noble  as- 
pirations, but  he  often  suffered  them  to  be  obscured  by  igno- 
ble passions.  All  his  life  long  he  allowed  himself  to  be  led  by 
women.  Had  they  all  been  like  his  sister,  Margaret  of  Valois, 
it  would  have  been  well  for  him,  for  France,  and  for  religion ; 
but  they  were  more  frequently  such  as  the  Duchess  of  Valen- 
tinois,  and  even  worse.  He  was  ambitious,  but  it  was  more 
for  his  kingdom  than  for  himself ;  he  was  a  warrior,  though 
not  equal  to  his  rivals ;  he  was  sumptuous  and  extravagant, 
but  architects  and  painters,  historians  and  poets,  scholars  and 
wits,  were  not  neglected  by  him.  He  was  impressionable  and 
superstitious,  but  he  often  checked  the  fiery  zeal  of  the  perse- 
cutors, tried  to  reform  the  clergy  in  his  dilettante  fashion,  and 
was  never  bigoted  except  when  frightened  by  the  priests,  or 
when  he  fancied  his  personal  dignity  insulted.  It  is  not  won- 
derful that  Frenchmen  look  back  to  him  with  pride,  for  he 
represents  the  national  character  in  its  best  as  well  as  in  its 
worst  phases. 


22  MASSACRE  or  ST. .BARTHOLOMEW. 


CHAPTER  II. 
HENRY  II. 

[1547-1553.] 

Henry  II. — Catherine  and  Diana — Montmorency— Coronation — King  En- 
ters Paris — Fetes — Heretic  Burning — New  Edicts — Chambres  Ardentes 
— Edict  of  Chateaubriant — Persecution  at  Angers,  Le  Puy,  Velay — Inqui- 
sition Proposed — Resistance  of  Parliament — Siege  and  Battle  of  St.  Quen- 
tin — Affair  of  the  Rue  St.  Jacques — Martyrdom  of  Philippa  de  Lunz — 
Calvin's  Letter — Pre  Aux  Clercs  and  Marot's  Psalms — Peace  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis — Divisions  in  the  Paris  Parliament — The  Mercurial  of  June 
— DuFaur  and  Du  Bourg  Arrested — First  Synod  of  Reformed  Churches — 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Book  of  Discipline — Edict  of  Ecouen — The  Tour- 
nament— Henry's  Death. 

HENBY  II.  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age  when  he  ascended 
his  father's  throne  (31st  March,  1547),  his  elder  brother,  the 
dauphin  Francis,  having  died  almost  ten  years  before.  He 
was  rather  tall,  well-proportioned,  fond  of  athletic  sports,  and 
vain  of  his  skill  in  the  toumay— a  weakness  that  proved  fatal 
to  him  at  last.  His  hair  was  dark,  his  beard  short  and  point- 
ed, his  complexion  pale,  almost  livid.  His  large,  black,  lively 
eyes  somewhat  contradicted  his  melancholy,  saturnine  charac- 
ter. He  rarely  laughed,  and,  according  to  the  Venetian  en- 
voy, Matteo  Dandolo,  some  of  the  courtiers  declared  they  had 
never  seen  him  smile.  His  portraits  would  leave  us  to  sup- 
pose that  he  was  of  a  mild  and  gentle  disposition ;  but  bigot- 
ry often  made  him  cruel,  and  his  pride  was  impatient  of  oppo- 
sition. He  could  be  liberal,  too — especially  with  other  per- 
sons' money.  Thus  he  gave  the  notorious  Diana  of  Poitiers 
the  renomination  of  all  the  officials  whose  posts  had  become 
vacant  by  the  death  of  his  predecessors,  by  which  she  appro- 
priated more  than  100,000  crowns  in  the  shape  of  fines  and 
presents.  Henry  possessed  good  natural.abilities,  and  a  reten- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  23 

tive  memory,  but  was  uninstructed  ;  *  he  had  a  taste  for  mu- 
sic, and  spoke  Italian  and  Spanish.  He  was  also  religious,  so 
far  at  least  as  not  to  ride  out  on  Sunday  until  after  mass. 
Though  not  much  distinguished  in  Avar,  he  never  shrank  from 
danger,  and  at  Landrecy  conducted  himself  as  a  good  captain 
and  brave  soldier.f 

His  queen  was  Catherine  de  Medicis,  one  of  the  most  enig- 
matical personages  in  history.  Attempts  have  recently  been 
made  to  reverse  the  judgment  of  time,  and  rehabilitate  her 
character,  J  which  possibly  has  been  painted  in  darker  colors 
than  it  deserved ;  but  to  convert  her  into  a  martyr  and  vic- 
tim, entitled  to  our  respect  and  sympathy,  is  to  write  not  his- 
tory but  romance.  In  early  life  she  had  more  than  one  nar- 
row escape,  and  her  later  career  can  hardly  prevent  our  regret- 
ting that  she  lived  to  be  old.  At  her  birth  (so  runs  the  sto- 
ry) astrologers  foretold  that  she  would  be  the  ruin  of  the  fam- 
ily and  the  place  where  she  was  married.  She  was  according- 
ly put  into  a  convent ;  but  Avhen  her  uncle,  Clement  VII.,  be- 
sieged Florence,  in  1530,  the  council  of  that  city  proposed 
taking  her  out  and  hanging  her  in  a  basket  over  the  battle- 
ments, so  that  she  might  be  killed  by  the  besieger's  cannon. 
A  still  worse  fate  was  proposed  by  others,  which,  to  the  honor 
of  humanity,  she  escaped.  Although  the  niece  of  a  pope,  she 
was  a  portionless  orphan,  and  apparently  doomed  to  spend  her 
days  in  the  seclusion  of  a  cloister.  Such  a  life  would  have 
been  happier  for  her  and  for  France ;  but  it  was  not  to  be  so. 
Her  marriage  with  Henry  of  Valois,  in  1533,  was  strictly  a  po- 
litical one — a  bond  of  union  between  Francis  I.  and  Clement 
VII.  against  the  emperor.  The  child-bride  §  displayed  at  this 

*  Petri  Paschalii  Ilistor.  Fragm.  Dupuy  MSS.  Raumer:  Hist.  16th 
and  Mth  Centuries,  i.  201. 

t  Mattco  Dandolo  in  1542  and  Lorenzo  Contarini  in  1551  describe  Henry 
in  nearly  the  same  terms.  SeeAlberi:  Relazloni  deyli  Ambas.  Veneti.  (8vo. 
Firenze.)  Ser.  i.  vol.  iv.  I860,  pp.27  and  GO. 

J  M.  Capefignc  has  attempted  this  in  his  one-sided  fashion ;  but  Alberi 
extols  her  as  a  model  of  almost  every  Christian  virtue. 

§  Sismondi  says  she  was  only  13,  but  from  her  birth,  13th  April,  1519,  to 
her  wedding-day  is  14J  years. 


24:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

time  none  of  the  darker  characteristics  which  afterward  dis- 
tinguished her.  She  was  rather  below  the  middle  height,  her 
eyes  were  large  and  sparkling — they  were  peculiar  to  her  fam- 
ily,* her  complexion  was  beautiful,  her  voice  clear  as  a  bell ; 
she  dressed  with  care,  and  exercised  a  singular  fascination  over 
all  who  came  near  her.  Foreigners  who  saw  her  twenty  or 
thirty  years  later  describe  her  as  still  possessing  an  excellent 
figure,  writh  a  hand  and  arm  that  were  the  despair  of  the 
sculptor.  She  possessed  many  shining  qualities,  which  she 
often  marred  by  devoting  them  to  evil  purposes.  In  an  age 
when  female  purity  was  not  held  in  high  esteem,  she  preserved 
a  reputation  that  scandal  scarce  has  touched.  She  was 
prompt  in  action,  fertile  in  resources,  could  read  character 
well,  and  had  perfect  control  over  her  own  feelings.  She 
never  designedly  made  an  enemy  of  any  one ;  and  with  her 
sweet  smile,  musical  voice,  and  courteous  manner,  converted 
many  an  enemy  into  a  friend. 

After  the  disastrous  battle  of  St.  Quentin  she  gave  the  first 
indications  of  her  skill  in  public  matters.  The  king  had  ur- 
gent need  of  money,  and  as  he  was  absent  from  Paris,  Cather- 
ine went  to  the  parliament,  explained  the  royal  necessities,  and 
obtained  a  grant  of  300,000  livres.  "  She  thanked  them  in  such 
words  that  all  wept  with  tenderness.  .  .  .  Throughout  the 
city  men  talked  of  nothing  but  her  majesty's  prudence."  f 
After  this  time  (we  are  told)  the  king  went  more  into  her  so- 
ciety. During  her  husband's  life,  she  possessed  but  little  in- 
fluence :  his  dislike  to  her  at  one  time  nearly  approaching  to 
hatred.  He  often  taunted  her  with  her  plebeian  origin ;  and, 

*  "Li occhi  grossi  proprj  alia  cnsa  de'  Medici."  Surinno.  On  the  ceil- 
ing of  a  room  in  the  chateau  of  Tnnluy,  between  Tonnerre  and  Moutbard, 
which  once  belonged  to  the  Chatillons,  there  was  (and  probably  still  is)  a 
figure  of  Catherine  as  Juno,  with  two  faces  :  one,  masculine  and  sinister, 
the  other  with  a  remarkable  sweetness  and  dignity  of  expression.  In  the 
gallery  at  Eu  there  were  two  portraits  (probably  copies)  representing  her  as 
exceedingly  fair  :  in  one,  the  hair  was  of  a  reddish  tinge  ;  in  the  other,  the 
eyebrows  were  light  and  the  eyes  hazel. 

t  Giovanni  Soranzo,  14th  August,  1557.     Rclazioni,  ;\  8. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  25 

but  for  the  love  Francis  I.  bore  her,  she  would  have  been  re- 
pudiated and  sent  back  to  her  relations.  In  the  earlier  years 
of  her  wedded  life  she  was  unpopular,  because  she  was  child- 
less, and  because  her  uncle,  Clement,  who  deceived  all  who 
trusted  in  him,  had  evaded  his  engagements.  By  degrees, 
however,  she  won  the  love  of  the  people,  who  would  willingly 
have  shed  their  blood  for  her.* 

If  she  did  not  love  her  husband,  she  made  a  great  show  of 
sincere  attachment.  When  he  was  away  from  her  with  the 
army,  she  would  put  herself  and  her  attendants  into  mourning ; 
and  go  in  procession  to  various  shrines  to  pray  for  his  hap- 
piness and  success.  She  has  been  described  as  molto  religiose^ 
but  that  means  very  little  in  an  Italian  mouth.  In  later  years, 
it  was  not  easy  to  tell  when  she  was  sincere,  or  when  playing 
a  part.  She  had  been  trained  in  that  school  whence  Machia- 
velli  derived  his  maxims.  She  thought  nothing  of  right  or 
wrong :  her  principles,  if  such  they  may  be  termed,  were  pru- 
dence, expediency,  and  success ;  and  she  preferred  a  tortuous 
to  a  straightforward  policy.  During  the  life  of  her  husband, 
Catherine  had  filled  a  subordinate  position,  having  the  title, 
but  little  of  the  respect,  that  surrounds  a  queen.  She  never 
had  fair  play,  and  her  early  years  were  blighted  by  the  shadow 
cast  upon  them  by  Diana  of  Poitiers. 

Diana,  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  was  the  widaw  of  Louis  de 
Breze,  high  seneschal  of  Normandy,  f  and  the  most  beautiful 
woman  of  the  age.J  In  her  youth  she  had  captivated  the  af- 


*  "  Non  si  troveria  persona  che  non  si  lasciassc  cavare  del  sangue  per  far- 
gli  avere  un  figlio." — Matt.  Dandolo. 

f  His  tomb,  by  Jean  Goujon,  is  in  Rouen  cathedral. 

t  Brantome  describes  her  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  as  being  "  so  lovely  that 
the  most  insensible  person  could  not  look  upon  her  without  emotion  ;"  and 
ascribes  her  beauty  to  a  bouillon  she  took  every  morning  composed  of  "or 
potable  et  autres  drogues  que  je  no  sais  pas.''  De  Thou  says  she  made 
Henry  constant  to  her  "  philtris  et  magicis  (ut  creditur)  nrtibus."  A  hide- 
ous story  of  her  bathing  in  blood  to  preserve  her  beauty  is  told  of  "cette 
He'rodias  "  in  the  Melange  critique  de  Litterature,  ii.  p.  113.  At  Dijon  there 
is  a  three-quarter  portrait  of  her  entirely  undraped.  The  form  is  exceed- 


26  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

fections,  such  as  they  were,  of  Francis  I.,  and  even  during  his 
life-time  had  enthralled  the  future  king  by  her  dazzling  charms. 
Henry  used  to  wear  her  colors,  black  and  white ;  *  consult  her 
on  affairs  of  state,  and  permit  her  to  dispense  the  ecclesiastic- 
al patronage.f  It  has  been  said  that  the  love  between  them 
was  purely  platonic :  the  statement — borne  out  in  some  de- 
gree by  the  difference  of  their  years— »is  not,  however,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  opinion  of  her  contemporaries.  J  The  king 
at  one  time  seems  to  have  been  quite  infatuated  with  her.  At 
the  foot  of  her  portrait  he  wrote  the  first  words  of  Marot's 
version  of  the  forty-second  Psalm — 

As  pants  the  hart  for  cooling  streams, 

While  heated  in  the  chase, 
So  longs  my  soul  for  thee  ! 

Brantoine  describes  her  as  "a  good  Catholic  and  very  de- 
vout ;"  but  the  abbe's  standard  is  not  a  high  one.  He  adds 
that  "  she  hated  those  of  the  religion."  §  This  we  can  believe, 
but  her  dislike  did  not  extend  to  their  possessions,  by  which 
she  grew  enormously  rich.  The  historian  Matthieu  records 
that  the  people  said  of  her :  "  For  twelve  years  an  old  woman 
kept  heaven  so  close,  that  not  a  drop  of  justice  fell  on  France, 
except  by  stealth."  She  was  very  extravagant  in  her  tastes, 
to  meet  which  added  much  to  an  already  oppressive  taxation. 

ingly  lovely,  the  face  a  long  oval,  the  eyes  dark,  eyebrows  delicate,  hair  a 
bright  auburn,  and  complexion  fair. 

*  They  were  the  emblems  of  mourning  which  widows  in  those  days  never 
put  off. 

t  "  Particolarmente  la  dispensazione  delli  benefici  ecclesiastici  e  in  man 
sua." — Soranzo. 

J  "  II  quale  1'ha  amata,  cd  ama  c  godi  cosi  vccchia  come  c."  L.  Contar- 
ini(1551):  Relazioni  Veneti,  iv.  1860,  p.  78;  Baschet:  La  Diplomatic  vtfni- 
tienne,  p.  432.  G.  Soranzo  (1558)  writes  to  the  same  effect ;  but  M.  Cav- 
alli  is  of  quite  a  contrary  opinion.  "  Questo  amore  non  sia  lascivo,  ma 
come  materno  filiale." — Raumer,  i.  p.  259. 

§-The  pope  significantly  sent  her  a  pearl  necklace  shortly  after  Henry's 
accession.  The  French  have  recently  erected  a  statne  to  her  memory.  It 
ie  painful  to  see  a  noble  nation  so  deficient  in  self-respect  as  to  make  idols 
of  the  mistresses  of  their  sovereigns — Agnes  Sorel,  Diana,  Gabrielle  d'Es- 
tre'es,  and  others. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  27 

The  ruins  of  her  little  palace  of  Anet,  on  the  Eure,  near  Dreux, 
still  exhibit  some  faint  traces  of  the  splendor  and  elegance  of 
its  first  occupant,  and  of  its  architect  Philibert  de  1'Orme.  In 
1547,  Henry  II.  made  her  a  present  of  the  castle  of  Chenon- 
ceau,  a  marvel  of  the  Renaissance,  built  by  that  unfortunate 
superintendent  of  finance,  Jacques  de  Beaune-Semblan9ay. 
In  the  letters  patent  conveying  this  magnificent  present  to  his 
favorite,  the  king  declared  it  was  "  in  consideration  of  the 
great  and  most  commendable  services  rendered  to  the  crown 
by  her  late  husband,  Louis  de  Breze."  But  when  Henry  died, 
Catherine  forced  her  to  give  up  the  chateau,  and  retained  it 
for  herself.  To  decorate  this  building  and  add  to  its  pleasure 
grounds,  Henry  imposed  a  tax  upon  bells — twenty  livres  each. 
The  people  murmured  loudly  at  this,  and  Rabelais,  echoing 
the  popular  complaints,  pretended  that  "  the  king  had  hung 
all  the  bells  of  the  kingdom  round  the  neck  of  his  mare."* 

One  of  Henry's  first  acts,  after  his  accession,  was  to  dismiss 
his  father's  ministers,  and  place  the  management  of  affairs  in 
the  hands  of  Montmorency,  conjointly  with  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  and  Marshal  St.  Andre,  who  had 
been  the  king's  playmate.  The  constable  was  nearly  sixty 
years  of  age  when  he  was  thus  recalled  from  the  retirement 
to  which  Francis  I.  had  banished  him.  He  was  a  man  of 
harsh  manners,  ignorant,f  greedy  of  money,  and  a  bigot  in 
religion ;  or,  perhaps  it  may  be  truer  to  say,  vain  of  his  de- 
scent from  Pharamond,  and  of  being  "  the  first  Christian  baron 
of  France."  At  times  he  could  be  exceedingly  pompous  and 
haughty,  and  though  he  had  seen  much  service,  he  possessed 
but  little  military  capacity.  Some  of  the  stories  told  of  his 
ferocity  have  a  certain  grim  humor  about  them,  notwithstand- 
ing their  brutality.  While  saying  his  prayers,  he  woxild  break 
off  suddenly  and  order  this  man  to  be  whipped,  or  that  to  be 
hanged,  or  a  village  to  be  burned,  and  then  continue  ("  tant  il 

*  "An  col  de  sa  jument." — Garyantua,  liv.  i.  ch..  17. 
•I:  "  II  ne  savait  ni  lire  ni  ecrire." — Marsollicr  :  Hist,  due  da  Bouillon,  i.,7 
(Paris,  1719). 


28  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

etait  consciencieux,"  says  Brantome)  as  if  he  had  done  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world.  These  paternosters  had 
passed  into  a  proverb,  during  his  life-time.  When  he  marched 
to  Bordeaux,  to  put  down  an  insurrection  occasioned  in  the 
south-west  of  France  by  the  severity  with  which  the  infamous 
gdbelle  or  salt-tax  was  levied,  he  told  the  citizens  as  they  came 
out  to  present  him  with  the  keys  of  the  gates :  "  Begone  with 
your  keys.  I  don't  want  them.  I  will  open  your  gates  with 
mine  (pointing  to  his  cannon),  and  have  you  all  hanged.  I'll 
teach  you  to  rebel  against  your  king."  And  for  five  weeks 
terror  reigned  in  the  city.  More  than  one  hundred  and  forty 
persons  were  hanged,  decapitated,  burned  alive,  or  otherwise 
put  to  death;  not  a  few  of  them  having  been  torn  asunder 
by  horses,  impaled,  or  broken  on  the  wheel.  "  It  was  an  ex- 
emplary punishment,"  says  Brantome,  "  but  not  so  severe  as 
the  case  required."  The  country  was  laid  waste  far  and  wide 
by  an  ill-disciplined,  unpaid  soldiery — a  course  of  treatment 
which  did  not  increase  the  loyalty  or  othodoxy  of  the  inhabit- 
ants. Montmorency  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  king,  and 
his  son  Francis  married  Diana  of  Angouleme,  Henry's  natural 
daughter.* 

Henry  II.  was  duly  crowned  at  Rheims  in  July,  1547,  and 
the  particulars  recorded  of  the  ceremony  show  that  we  have 
fallen  off  in  the  matter  of  kingly  pomp.  On  a  platform  erect- 
ed before  the  gate  of  the  city,  there  was  a  representation  of 
the  sun,  which  appeared  to  expand  like  a  flower.  In  the  cen- 
tre was  a  crimson  heart,  out  of  which  stepped  a  young  girl  in 
costly  attire,  who  offered  the  keys  of  the  city  to  the  monarch. 
Henry  suffered  two  years  to  elapse  before  he  visited  his  capi- 
tal. On  16th  June,  1549,  all  Paris  was  in  commotion.  A 
grand  procession  of  the  notabilities  of  the  city,  both  lay  and 

*  He  was  named  Anne,  after  his  godmother  Anne  of  Brittany.  lie  had  four 
sons  and  five  daughters ;  his  sister  Louisa,  a  widow,  married  Gaspard  do 
Coligny,  the  father  of  the  Admiral.  Louisa's  first  husband  was  the  Marshal 
<le  Maillc,  and  her  daughter  Dame  de  Roye  was  mother  of  the  Dame  do 
Koye  who  married  Conde'. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  29 

clerical,  went  out  to  meet  and  harangue  him,  according  to 
the  wearisome  custom  of  the  age.  The  king,  richly  dressed, 
rode  a  white  horse,  and  was  attended  by  the  princes  of  the 
blood,  foreign  embassadors,  marshals  of  France,  and  knights 
of  the  various  orders  of  chivalry,  all  well  mounted.  The  glit- 
tering procession  took  its  way  through  streets  hung  with  tap- 
estry, and  under  triumphal  arches,  to  Notre  Dame.  After  the 
usual  Te  JDeum,  Henry  was  escorted  with  boisterous  acclama- 
tions to  the  bishop's  palace,  where  a  royal  banquet  had  been 
prepared  for  him  in  the  great  hall.  Only  the  princes  of  the 
royal  house  ate  at  his  table.  On  his  right  sat  the  Cardinals  of 
Bourbon  and  Yendome :  on  his  left  the  Dukes  of  Vendome, 
Montpensier,  and  Roche-sur-Yon.  The  Constable  Montmoren- 
cy,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  stood  in  front  of  him  with  a  drawn 
sword.  Henry  remained  at  the  palace  two  days,  until  the  sol- 
emn entry  of  the  queen.  She  was  in  a  horse-litter  profusely 
ornamented,  and  at  her  side  rode  the  Cardinals  of  Amboise, 
Chatillon,  Boulogne,  and  Lenoncourt.  Two  other  litters  were 
used  by  the  princesses,  their  ladies  following  on  hackneys,  and 
attended  by  pages  on  foot.  After  the  customary  prayers  at 
Notre  Dame,  and  the  dinner  at  the  bishop's  palace,  a  ball  was 
given  (for  churchmen  could  dance  in  those  days),  at  which  the 
"  enf ants  de  la  ville,"  some  sixscore  young  men,  danced  with 
the  court  ladies,  and  acquitted  themselves  with  much  grace, 
to  the  evident  satisfaction  of  Henry,  who  had  arranged  this 
little  incident.  After  the  ball  there  was  a  supper — a  collation 
of  preserves  and  sweetmeats ;  and  to  end  the  feast,  the  provost 
of  the  merchants  and  the  aldermen  presented  the  queen  with 
a  "buffet  complet,"  a  complete  set  of  double  silver-gilt  plate, 
adorned  with  fleur-de-lis  and  "  crescents."  * 

The  morroAV  being  Corpus  Christi  day,  the  provost  and  al- 
dermen waited  upon  the  king  at  the  palace  of  the  Tournelles, 
to  present  him  with  a  piece  of  plate,  which  the  chronicles  are 

*  These  "crescents,"  so  often  found  interlaced  with  H,  are  supposed  to 
be  the  device  of  Diana  of  Poitiers  ;  I  am  more  inclined  to  regard  them  as  a 
fanciful  C,  to  indicate  Catherine. 


30  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

careful  to  tell  us  was  of  "  ducat  gold."  It  was  a  grand  alle- 
gorical work  of  art,  at  that  time  unmatched  in  Europe.*  The 
provost  made  a  complimentary  speech  on  presenting  it,  and 
the  king,  who  was  delighted  with  the  gift,  thanked  him  in  lan- 
guage as  flattering  as  it  was  gracious.  This  emboldened  the 
provost  to  invite  him  to  follow  the  example  of  his  ancestors, 
and  come  to  the  Greve  next  Sunday — the  eve  of  St.*  John — 
and  set  fire  to  the  great  tree.  Henry  complied  with  the  re- 
quest, and  went,  accompanied  by  the  queen,  the  princes 'and 
princesses,  and  kindled  the  fire  with  a  torch  of  white  wax 
handed  him  by  the  provost.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  the  Ho- 
tel de  Ville,  where,  after  the  usual  collation — a  good  custom 
which  still  prevails  in  civic  entertainments — the  city  dames 
had  the  honor  of  dancing  with  the  king  and  his  court.  It  was 
still  light  when  he  returned  to  his  palace  of  the  Tournelles. 

During  the  month  Henry  remained  in  Paris,  there  were  fre- 
quent tournays  in  the  lists,  prepared  by  the  city  in  the  Rue 
St.  Antoine.  The  provost  had  also  built  a  fort  on  the  islet  of 
Louviers  in  the  Seine,  to  afford  the  king  the  pleasing  specta- 
cle of  a  bombardment  'and  a  sea-fight.  A  bridge  of  boats  had 
been  constructed  from  the  island  of  Notre  Dame  to  that  of 
Louviers  for  the  passage  of  the  troops  that  were  to  attack  the 
fort.  These  were  harmless  amusements  compared  with  some 
that  followed.  !  On  Thursday,  4th  July,  Henry  quitted  the 
Tournelles  at  seven  in  the  morning,  and  rode  in  grand  proces- 
sion to  the  great  cathedral,  where  he  heard  high  mass,  and 
then  went  to  dine  at  the  episcopal  palace,  after  which  the  royal 
digestion  was  gently  stimulated  by  the  burning  of  some  here- 
tics. On  another  occasion,  after  a  similar  procession  and  ban- 
quet, some  more  heretics  were  burned  in  the  Rue  St.  Antoine, 
"where  the  king  stopped  and  advised  them  to  recant." f 
Heretic-burning  was  one  of  the  popular  sports  of  the  day,  at 
which — if  contemporary  engravings  are  any  authority  in  such 


*  Fdlihien :  Hist,  de  la  Ville  de  Pans,  torn.  ii.  liv.  xx.  p.  1031  (fol.  1725). 
t  Fe'libien,  torn.  v.  p.  378. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  31 

matters — high-bom  dames  attended  in  full  dress.  It  was  on  one 
of  these  occasions  (4th  July,  1549),  that  Henry  witnessed  the 
execution  of  a  poor  tailor,  who  had  offended  Diana  by  lan- 
guage not  unlike  that  which  John  the  Baptist  used  with  re- 
gard to  Herodias.  The  sufferer,  we  are  told,  turned  upon  the 
king  such  a  look  of  calm  reproach,  that  he  withdrew  frightened 
from  the  window,  and  for  several  nights  after  fancied  that  the 
dying  man  haunted  his  bedside. 

Meanwhile  the  reformed  doctrines  had  been  spreading  fast. 
Extending  beyond  the  small  circle  of  nobles,  scholars,  and 
church  dignitaries,  by  whom  they  were  first  taught  and  de- 
fended, and  making  their  way  into  the  lower  strata  of  society,* 
they  had  become  more  definite  and  radical.  The  uneducated 
shoe-maker  or  ploughman  could  not  appreciate  such  nice  dis- 
tinctions as  Margaret  of  Valois  drew  in  her  "  Mass  of  Seven 
Points,"  and  would  not  have  cared  for  such  subtleties  if  he 
had  understood  them.  These  simple  men  heard  the  Bible  read 
and  explained  to  them,  and  the  doctrines  of  Free  Grace  and 
of  the  Atonement  sank  straight  into  their  hearts.  There  was 
very  little  but  habit  to  keep  the  people  faithful  to  the  old 
Church.  "They  are  more  affected,"  says  Matthieu,  uncon- 
sciously imitating  Horace,  "  by  example  fhan  by  instruction, 
and  estimate  the  truth  of  a  doctrine  by  the  purity  of  a  man's 
life."  Such  an  example  was  rarely  found  in  the  Catholic  cler- 
gy. Another  strong  reforming  agent  was  the  misery  of  the 
times.  With  reference  to  Normandy,  which  was  better  off 
than  many  other  provinces,  a  local  historian  writes :  "  The  peo- 
ple were  easily  seduced ;  the  dues  and  taxes  were  so  excessive 
that  in  many  villages  there  was  no  assessment.  The  declines 
were  so  high  that  the  parish  priests  and  their  curates  ran  away 
for  fear  of  being  imprisoned,  and  ceased  to  perform  divine 
service  in  many  parishes  near  Caen.  .  .  .  Seeing  this,  the 

*  The  intellect  of  the  day  was  on  the  side  of  the  Reform :  "  Peintrcs,  orlo- 
giers,  imapiers,  orfevrcs,  libraires,  imprimeurs,  et  autres,  qui  en  leurs  me- 
tiers, ont  quelque  noblesse  d'eynit." — Flor.  de  Remond,  an  unimpeachable 
witness. 


32  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

preachers  from  Geneva  took  possession  of  the  churches  and 
chapels."  * 

Yet  great  as  had  been  the  increase  of  numbers,  the  Reform- 
ed at  this  time  could  hardly  have  amounted  to  a  hundredth 
part  of  the  population ;  even  in  1558  they  were  not  estimated 
at  more  than  400,000.  The  cities  along  the  course  of  the 
Rhone  and  those  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps  were  strongly 
Calvinistic,  as  was  also  Languedoc,  where  probably  some 
relics  of  the  old  Albigensian  spirit  of  revolt  still  lingered. 
In  this  province  the  Romish  Church  was  especially  hateful,  as 
it  had  been  enriched  by  the  confiscated  estates  of  the  Al- 
bigensian nobles.f  Anjou  and  Normandy  were  divided; 
Picardy  felt  the  influence  of  Flanders,  where  the  new  doctrines 
were  extending  with  civil  liberty.  Nearly  all  the  rest  of 
France  was  Catholic.  The  rural  population  was  then,  as  now, 
under  the  influence  of  the  clergy,  as  also  were  the  inhabitants 
of  the  smaller  country  towns.  These  are  usually  a  narrow- 
minded  class,  an  almost  inevitable  consequence  of  their  isola- 
tion, and  the  dull  nature  of  their  habits  and  occupations. 
In  Paris,  the  mass  of  the  population  was  Catholic,  the  danger- 
ous classes  being  especially  demonstrative  in  their  orthodoxy. 
The  progress  of  religious  reform  might  have  been  more  rapid 
but  for  certain  peculiarities  in  the  state  of  society,  which 
made  every  innovation  difficult.  The  guilds  in  the  towns  had 
their  patron  saints  and  annual  festivals.  If  a  man  adopted 
the  reformed  faith,  he  must  renounce  these,  and  become  a 
sort  of  outcast  among  his  comrades,  and  perhaps  the  severest 
persecution  he  had  to  undergo  was  that  he  endured  at  the 
hands  of  his  fellow-workmen.  "We  all  know  how  much  this 
prevails  in  large  factories  and  in  trade  unions  among  us : 
and  it  must  have  been  incalculably  worse  at  a  time  when  the 


*  Bras  do  Bourgucville :  liecherches  sur  Caen,  2"  partie,  p.  1G2  ;  Ctc  Hec- 
tor dc  la  Fcrriore — Percy  :  Hist,  du  Canton  (TAthis.  8vo.  Paris,  1858. 

t  Montluc  says  the  nobles  adopted  the  Reform  out  of  a  spirit  of  opposition. 
"II  n'etait  fils  de  bonne  maison  qui  ne  voulut  goftter  de  cctte  reforme  nou- 
velle." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  33 

guilds  were  such  close  bodies  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry 
on  a  trade  independently  of  them. 

Henry  II.,  like  his  father,  cared  little  about  the  new  doc- 
trines, so  long  as  they  were  confined  to  the  learned  and  the 
well-born :  but  when  they  spread  among  the  lower  classes,  he 
determined  to  punish  heresy  as  worse  than  treason.  His 
father's  edicts  were  carried  out  with  great  severity ;  but  they 
were  so  far  from  producing  the  desired  effect,  that  the  Re- 
form spread  more  and  more.  In  order  to  hasten  its  extirpa- 
tion, a  new  edict  was  issued  (19th  Kovember,  1549),  in  which, 
after  complaining  that  the  bishops  and  their  suffragans  pro- 
ceeded too  slowly  and  tenderly — a  statement  which  it  is  hard 
to  accept — Henry  established  special  chambers  of  Parliament 
for  the  trial  and  punishment  of  heresy  only.  It  was  a  kind 
of  lay  inquisition,  of  which  all  the  judges  in  the  realm,  both 
civil  and  ecclesiastical,  were  members  ex  officio.  These  were 
the  famous  chambres  ardentes,  so  called,  says  Mezeray,  "  be- 
cause they  burned  without  mercy  every  one  they  convicted." 
Rut  the  new  edict  appears  to  have  had  as  little  effect  as  its 
predecessors,  for  in  the  following  month  of  February  the 
king  by  letters  patent  reproached  the  judges  for  want  of  zeal 
"  in  discharging  their  duty  in  this  holy  and  laudable  work,  so 
acceptable  to  God."  Finally  the  sanguinary  edict  of  Cha- 
teaubriant*  was  issued  (27th  June,  1551),  by  which  all  the 
old  laws  on  heresy  were  revised  and  codified.  In  the  pream- 
ble, after  recounting  the  efforts  of  his  father  as  Avell  as  his 
own  to  suppress  heresy,  Henry  declared  that  "  the  error  went 
on  increasing  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour ;"  that  it  was 
"  like  the  plague,  so  contagious  that  in  many  large  cities  it 
had  infected  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants,  men  and  women 
of  every  station,  and  even  the  little  children  had  sucked  in 
the  poison ;"  and  that  he  saw  no  hope  of  amendment  except 
by  employing  the  severest  measures  "  to  overcome  the  willful- 
ness and  obstinacy  of  that  wretched  sect,  and  to  purge  and 

*  About  the  same  time  another  edict  forbade  the  faithful  to  send  money  to 
Rome. — Lacretelle. 

c 


3-i  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

clear  the  kingdom  of  them."  The  magistrates  were,  there- 
fore, ordered  to  search  unceasingly  for  heretics,  and  to  make 
domiciliary  visits  in  quest  of  forbidden  books  (among  which 
the  Latin  Bible  of  Robert  Stephens  was  included).*  This 
edict  made  denunciation  a  trade  by  giving  the  informer  one- 
third  of  the  heretic's  confiscated  property,  and  farther  enact- 
ed that  a  person  acquitted  of  heresy  in  any  ordinary  court  of 
justice  might  be  again  tried  before  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal, 
and  vice  versd,  thus  depriving  the  poor  Reformer  of  all  chance 
of  escape.  Every  suspected  person  was  required  to  possess 
a  certificate  of  orthodoxy,  and  even  intercession  on  behalf  of 
convicted  heretics  was  made  penal.  These  severities — though 
they  were  called  "  too  lenient "  by  the  pope — drove  the  Re- 
formed to  emigrate  in  such  numbers  in  spite  of  all  attempts 
to  stop  them,  that  a  president  of  the  Parliament  of  Bordeaux 
wrote  to  Montmorency  expressing  his  alarm  at  seeing  on  the 
one  hand  the  emigration  increasing  every  day,  and  on  the 
other  the  great  progress  made  by  Calvinism.  But  the  king 
was  not  to  be  moved  from  his  purpose.  "  In  God's  cause," 
he  said,  "  every  one  should  be  ready  to  put  his  shoulder  to 
the  Avheel."  A  very  proper  sentiment,  only  we  must  be  sure 
that  the  cause  is  of  God.  When  the  Parliament  of  Paris 
registered  the  edict  of  Chateaubriant,  they  compared  Henry 
to  Numa,  "  quod  Numa  primus  condidit  templum  fidei." 
The  decree  was  carried  out  with  extreme  severity  all  over  the 
kingdom,  but  particularly  in  Saumur,  Lyons,  Nimes,  Toulouse, 
Paris,  Guyenne,  Bressc,  and  Champagne. 

In  Poitou  and  Anjou  the  fires  of  persecution  blazed 
fiercely.  Of  three  pastors  at  Angers  two  were  burned  alive, 
and  of  the  flock  six  were  put  to  death,  and  thirty-four  who 

*  On  the  19th  June,  1551,  the  papal  nuncio  represented  to  the  king  that 
lie  "  must  forbid  the  printing  and  circulation  of  all  heretical  books.  ...  If 
your  majesty  fail  to  punish  these  damnable  writers,  the  evil  may  proceed  so 
far  as  to  defy  all  remedy." — Raumer,  i.  2G2.  The  severities  of  the  Chateau- 
briant edict  proving  ineffectual,  it  was  declared  by  another  edict  (27th  Mav, 
1558),  that  the  illegal  printing  of  any  book  on  religion  would  ba  punished 
by  "  confiscation  dc  corps  ct  dc  bicns." 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  35 

fled  were  burned  as  they  were  caught.  The  Reformed  medi- 
tated taking  up  arms  in  self-defense,  but  were  strongly  ad- 
vised by  Calvin  not  to  do  so,  and  they  obeyed.  But  the  trial 
of  their  endurance  must  have  been  severe ;  for  so  great  was . 
the  terrorism  toward  the  end  of  1556  that  the  Reformed 
ceased  from  writing  to  one  anothei',  or  if  they  wrote,  directed 
their  letters,  "  To  the  brethren  whom  we  dare  not  name  lest 
they  should  suffer  harm." 

In  other  parts  of  France,  especially  in  the  south  and  centre, 
the  Reformers  suffered  less.  At  Le  Puy  the  discontent  first 
showed  itself  in  the  destruction  of  a  venerated  crucifix  during 
the  Holy  Week.  The  sacrilege  was  atoned  for  by  a  solemn 
procession.  The  shops  were  closed,  all  work  ceased,  the  bells 
rang  out  noisily  from  the  great  belfry,  and  the  priests  in  a 
long  line  climbed  the  steep  and  narrow  streets  of  that  gloomy- 
looking  town,  up  that  giant  flight  of  one  hundred  and  eight- 
een steps  to  the  grand  portal  of  the  cathedral.  On  this  lofty 
platform  the  procession  halted — not  to  admire  the  wide  pros- 
pect that  now  charms  every  traveler — but  to  chant  the  peni- 
tential psalms  before  entering  that  old  grey  temple.  The 
bells,  which  had  ceased  their  monotonous  din  during  this  sol- 
emn moment,  now  pealed  out  joyously.  The  priests  took  off 
the  emblems  of  mourning  which  they  had  worn  until  this 
moment,  and  entered  the  cathedral,  the  citizens  following, 
each  man  in  his  own  guild.  The  very  next  night  a  similar 
outrage  occurred,  and  as  the  real  culprits  could  not  be  found, 
two  men  were  burned  for  heresy,  their  tongues  having  been 
first  torn  out  (July,  1552).  But  "justice"  Avas  not  overpre- 
cise  in  its  nomenclature  in  those  days,  for  we  find  two  thieves 
Avho  stole  a  chalice  put  to  death  as  heretics,  and  two  coiners 
of  base  money  suffered  a  like  fate.  In  1555  two  "most  ras- 
cally heretics"  were  burned  to  death  in  the  midst  of  a  pile  of 
"  pestilent  books  from  Geneva."  Oh,  those  books  !  how  tyr- 
anny and  falsehood  hate  them  ! 

Two  years  later  a  wretched  pedlar  was  convicted  of  selling 
"  the  damnable  writings  of  Calvin,"  and  his  execution  order- 


3$  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ed  to  take  place  on  one  of  the  chief  festivals  of  the  Church — 
that  of  Corpus  Christi.  It  was  a  bright  morning  in  summer. 
The  walls  of  the  houses  were  hung  with  drapery  and  the  win- 
dows  filled  with  spectators,  while  the  procession  moved  along 
more  like  a  Roman  triumph  than  a  Christian  celebration.  Mu- 
sic led  the  way,  the  guilds  followed  with  their  insignia,  next 
came  the  religious  brotherhood  with  their  banners,  while 
troops  of  boys  and  girls,  all  dressed  in  white,  scattered  roses 
and  burned  incense.  The  clergy  in  their  costliest  robes  fol- 
lowed next,  escorting  the  Holy  Sacrament,  which  the  bishop 
held  up  to  be  seen  and  worshiped  by  all.  Again  came 
white-robed  youths  and  maidens,  and  last  of  all  the  poor  ped- 
lar in  a  shirt  of  sacking.  He  was  barefoot,  carried  a  lighted 
taper  in  his  hand,  and  the  rope  was  round  his  neck.  Every 
time  the  procession  halted,  the  wretched  man  fell  on  his 
knees  and  made  the  amende  honorable,  according  to  the  terms 
of  his  sentence.  This  long  agony  lasted  five  hours,  until  at 
length  the  martyr  was  committed  to  the  fire. 

After  this  the  heretics  of  Velay,  where  this  mournful 
tragedy  had  been  enacted,  grew  bolder  and  began  to  assemble 
"  in  open  day  in  fields,  gardens,  barns,  no  matter  where.  .  .  . 
Their  preachers  were  butchers,  brick-layers,  publicans,  and 
other  venerable  doctors  of  that  sort,"  says  a  contemporary 
manuscript.  The  populace  jeered  and  hooted  at  them  as 
they  went  to  their  meetings,  and  the  Reformers  retaliated  by 
fastening  rosaries  to  their  dogs'  necks,  and  breaking  the  images 
of  Our  Lady,  calling  them  "  useless  logs."  Sometimes  the  per- 
sons who  thus  insulted  the  established  religion  were  discov- 
ered and  punished,  but  heresy  flourished  nevertheless.  The 
heretics  banded  together  and  entered  into  a  covenant  of  mu- 
tual aid.  They  established  a  sort  of  benefit  club,  elected 
leaders,  collectors,  and  treasurers,  bought  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, and  kept  themselves  ready  for  all  eventualities.  The  so- 
ciety numbered  about  four  hundred — all  resolute  men,  and 
strong  enough  to  ensure  freedom  of  worship — at  least  for  a 
time. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  37 

Confiscations,  imprisonment,  and  death  having  failed  to 
purge  the  kingdom  of  heresy,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
suggested  (in  1555)  a  new  edict,  by  virtue  of  which  all  per- 
sons convicted  of  heresy  by  the  ecclesiastical  judges  should 
be  punished  according  to  the  magnitude  of  the  crime  without 
appeal,  and  proposed  the  appointment  of  Ory  as  "  inquisitor 
of  the  faith  in  France ;"  *  but  bishops  and  Pai'liament  alike 
protested  against  it.  The  magistrates  were  especially  offend- 
ed at  having  a  court  set  over  them,  before  which  they  were 
liable  to  be  tried.  President  Seguier  remonstrated  to  the 
Council  in  language  worthy  of  the  occasion :  "  We  abhor  the 
establishment  of  a  tribunal  of  blood,  where  secret  accusa- 
tion takes  the  place  of  proof ;  where  the  accused  is  deprived 
of  every  natural  means  of  defense,  and  where  no  judiciary 
form  is  respected.  Commence,  Sire,  by  giving  the  nation  an 
edict  which  will  not  cover  your  kingdom  with  burning  piles, 
or  be  wetted  with  the  tears  and  blood  of  your  faithful  sub- 
jects." H*e  suggested  that  instead  of  employing  fire  and 
sword  to  establish  and  extend  religion,  they  should  try  the 
same  means  that  had  been  employed  to  found  it,  namely, 
"  the  revival  of  pure  doctrine,  combined  with  the  exempla- 
ry lives  of  the  clergy."  Henry  received  the  advice  courte- 
ously, and  the  edict  was  not  enforced. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  there  was  little  to  choose  between 
the  Inquisition  and  the  Chambres  Ardentes ;  but  the  differ- 
ence was  vital.  From  the  sentence  of  the  Inquisition,  which 
derived  its  authority  from  the  Holy  See,  there  could  be  no  ap- 
peal. Its  victims  were  handed  over  to  the  secular  arm,  and 
not  even  the  king  had  power  to  come  between  them  and 
death.f  But  it  was  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  French 


*  Matthew  Ory,  of  the  order  of  Preaching  Friars,  had  been  invited  from 
Italy  by  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  and  by  letters  patent  of  Francis  I.  (30th  May, 
153G)  permitted  to  exercise  the  office  of  inquisitor  at  Lyons,  in  which  post 
he  was  confirmed  by  the  edict  of  Henry  II.  (22d  June,  1550). 

f  On  this  point  seethe  continuation  of  Longucral's  Hist.  Eylise  Gall,  by 
J.  M.  Prat  (4to,  1847),  t.  xix.  p.  9G. 


38  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

r 

law  that  the  king  alone,  as  supremo  head  of  the  state,  had  the 
power  of  life  and  death  over  the  subjects  of  the  state ;  and 
that  all  appeals  should  be  heard  and  decided  by  lay  judges.* 
In  the  next  reign  we  shall  find  the  great  Chancellor  L'llopital 
declaring  the  edict  of  Romorantin  with  all  its  harshness  and 
restrictions  to  be  more  merciful  than  any  copy  of  the  Spanish 
tribunals  of  blood  could  be. 

The  cardinal  was  not  a  man  to  be  daunted  by  this  repulse, 
and  in  April,  1557,  he  procured  a  bull  from  Pius  IV.  ordering 
the  establishment  of  an  inquisitorial  tribunal  of  which  himself 
and  the  Cardinals  of  Bourbon  and  Chatillon  were  named  di- 
rectors, with  authority  to  set  up  new  courts  of  bishops  and 
doctors  of  divinity,  with  full  power  to  arrest,  imprison,  and 
put  to  death,  without  regard  to  rank  or  quality,  all  persons  sus- 
pected of  heresy.  The  king  seems  to  have  been  as  eager  as 
the  cardinal  to  obtain  this  bull,  his  ambassador  at  Rome  being 
ordered  to  press  the  matter  as  "  the  only  means  of  extirpating 
false  doctrine."f  The  pope  also  sent  Henry  a  swofd  and  hel- 
*met  as  symbols  of  the  war  he  had  declared  against  heresy. 
We  shall  see  ere  long  to  what  use  the  sword  was  put.  Again 
the  Parliament  stood  forward  and  resisted  the  establishment 
of  the  irresponsible  tribunal.  If  their  motives  were  selfish, 
their  object  was  good,  and  farther  proceedings  were  adjourn- 
ed for  a  year.  It  is  possible  too  that  Henry  yielded  from  op- 
position of  another  kind,  having  discovered  that  the  new  doc- 
trines had  made  greater  progress  than  he  had  imagined  among 
the  nobles,  who  were  not  the  men  to  suffer  patiently  like  poor 
scholars  and  mechanics.  A  certain  amount  of  toleration  was 
therefore  conceded,  until  the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis  made 
persecution  an  international  duty. 
Although  the  persecution  never  ceased  in  France  during  the 


*  "  L'autoritc  ct  soiivcrainete  tnnt  du  roi  que  de  sa  couronnc  sernit  grandc- 
ment  diminue'e  qimnd  les  sujets  naturels  du  roi  scraicnt  prevenus  ct  entrc- 
prU  par  nn  official  ou  inquisiteur." — Hist,  des  Martyrs,  f.  463. 

t  Minute  of  Secretary  Ribier,  p.  677 ;  Sismondi,  xviii.  p.  ;VJ.  See  also 
Belcarius :  Her.  Gall.  Comment,  p.  868. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  39 

• 

reign  of  Henry  II.,  there  were  intervals  of  reaction  when  the 
fires  burned  dim  and  the  sword  of  the  executioner  hung  idle  on 
the  wall.  These  were  usually  connected  with  the  foreign  pol- 
icy of  the  government — a  subject  not  within  the  scope  of 
these  pages.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  mention  generally  that 
as  the  basis  of  every  diplomatic  arrangement  with  the  Pope, 
the  Emperor,  or  the  King  of  Spain,  was  the  extirpation  of  her- 
esy, so  a  certain  toleration  accorded  to  heretics  Avas  a  means 
of  showing  dissatisfaction  with  one  or  all  of  those  three  pow- 
ers. The  furious  outburst  of  persecution  which  occurred  at 
the  period  we  have  now  reached,  may  be  partly  traced  to  the 
changes  that  had  taken  place  in  foreign  countries.  Mary  was 
fiercely  persecuting  her  English  subjects,  Cranmer  having 
atoned  for  his  weaknesses  by  his  heroic  martyrdom  in  1556; 
Philip  II.  had  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Spain  and  re-enact- 
ed his  father's  cruel  edict  of  1550;  and  Paul  IV.,  the  restorer 
of  the  Inquisition,  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair.  France  was  at  war 
with  Spain  and  had  suffered  many  reverses  ;  Francis,  Duke  of 
Guise,  was  unsuccessful  in  Italy,  where  Alva,  as  yet  unstained 
by  blood,  was  carrying  all  before  him ;  while  on  the  northern 
frontier  the  Constable  Montmorency  tried  in  vain  to  make 
head  against  the  impetuous  attacks  of  Emmanuel  Philibert 
of  Savoy,  who  commanded  the  Spanish  troops  in  Flanders. 
Philibert  laid  siege  to  St.  Quentin,  where  Admiral  Coligny 
held  out  stubbornly  against  overwhelming  odds.  Montmo- 
rency marched  to  the  relief  of  the  city  and  re-enforced  the  gar- 
rison by  500  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  Andelot,  but  suf- 
fered a  bloody  defeat  (10th  August,  1557)  a  few  hours  after- 
ward, when  his  cavalry  was  routed  and  his  infantry  cut  to 
pieces.  He  himself  was  wounded  and  made  prisoner,  along 
Avith  Marshal  St.  Andre.  So  complete  was  the  rout,  so  crush- 
ing the  defeat — the  severest  that  France  had  received  since 
the  battle  of  Agincourt — that  the  Parisians  trembled  lest  the 
conqueror  should  appear  before  their  gates.  More  than  once 
has  that  beautiful  city  been  spared  by  the  procrastination  of 
a  victorious  enemy,  and  the  fear  of  driving  a  gallant  nation  to 


-10  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

extremity.  The  fortress  of  St.  Quentin  fell  on  the  27th 
August,  Coligny  and  his  brother  Andelot  being  made  prison- 
ers. 

Such  national  disasters  were  regarded  as  a  judgment  from 
heaven,  and  the  evangelicals  were  made  the  scape-goats. 
Priests  went  into  the  pulpit  and  inflamed  the  passions  of  their 
ignorant  hearers  by  the  coarsest  vituperations.  "  God  is  pun- 
ishing us,"  they  shouted,  "  because  we  have  not  avenged  his 
honor,"  and  the  populace  yielding  to  the  superstitious  impulse 
caught  up  the  cry.*  They  soon  had  an  opportunity  of  putting 
into  practice  the  lesson  they  had  been  taught.  On  the  night 
of  the  4th  September,  155 7,  f  a  number  of  adherents  of  the 
new  religion,  amounting  to  three  or  four  hundred,  assembled 
at  a  private  house  in  the  suburbs  on  the  left  bank  of  the  riv- 
er for  the  purpose  of  united  worship.  The  men  belonged 
chiefly  to  the  upper  classes,  and  the  women  were  of  good  fam- 
ilies, some  of  them  being  ladies  in  attendance  on  the  queen. J 
The  service  had  been  conducted  in  quiet,  the  Lord's-supper 
Administered,  and  the  congregation  was  about  to  separate  when 
they  found  the  street — the  Rue  St.  Jacques — blockaded  by  a 
furious  mob  bearing  torches  and  armed  with  every  weapon 
they  could  catch  up.  "Death  to  the  traitors  !  down  with  the 
Lutherans !"  they  shouted,  as  they*  rushed  to  the  door  and 
tried  to  force  an  entrance.  They  were  kept  at  bay  by  a  few 
resolute  gentlemen  who,  by  their  rank,  were  entitled  to  carry 
swords,  while  the  women  and  the  elders  sought  to  escape 
through  the  garden  which  opened  into  the  fields.  But  every 

*  "Existimant  omnis  publicse  cladis,  omnis  popularis  incommodi  Chris- 
tianos  esse  causam.  Si  Tibcris  ascendit  in  mccnia,  si  Nilus  non  asccndit  in 
arva,  siccelum  stetit,  si  terra  movct,  si  fames;  si  lues,  statim — Cliristianos 
ad  leonem  !" — Tcrtullian,  AjioL  c.  40. 

t  Pasquier  :  Lettres,  p.  195  (ed.  Arras.  1598)  says  it  happened  in  August, 
three  days  after  the  battle  of  St.  Laurent,  before  the  walls  of  St.  Quentin, 
which  was  taken  six  weeks  later.  But  these  letters  were  written  for  effect 
— many  of  them  some  time  after  the  events  they  record.  Drion  (Chronol.) 
says  "  May." 

t  Her  favorite,  Madame  de  Crussol,  Duchess  of  Usez,  held  the  Reformed 
opinions. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  41 

bntlet  "was  guarded  and  all  opportunity  of  flight  cut  off. 
What  was  to  be  done  ?  Death,  a  horrible  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  mob,  appeared  imminent.  The  only  chance  of  safety 
lay  in  seeking  the  protection  of  the  magistrates  before  the 
city  gates  were  opened,  and  all  the  ruffianism  of  Paris  was  let 
loose  upon  them.  With  this  intent  a  few  gallant  gentlemen 
volunteered  to  attempt  to  reach  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  others 
remaining  to  guard  the  helpless  women  and  old  men.  Sud- 
denly the  door  of  the  house  was  thrown  open  and  the  desper- 
ate little  band  rushed  out  and  cut  its  way  through  the  crowd 
with  the  loss  of  only  one  of  their  number.  Throughout  the 
long  night  those  left  behind  waited  in  trembling  apprehension 
for  the  dawn.  They  prayed  to  God  for  support,  and  some- 
times one  of  their  number  would  read  a  consolatory  chapter 
from  the  Bible,  the  yells  of  the  populace  frequently  drowning 
the  voice  of  the  reader. 

Day-light  came  at  last,  but  it  brought  no  relief.  The  doors 
were  forced,  and  the  unarmed  worshipers  would  have  been 
torn  to  pieces,  when  a  detachment  of  the  city  guard  arrived* 
and  took  them  off  to  prison,  saving  many  of  them  for  a  still 
cruder  death.  As  the  helpless  captives  were  dragged  through 
the  streets,  the  mob  reviled  and  cast  mud  at  them.  On  reach- 
ing the  Chatelet,  they  were  thrust  into  filthy  dungeons  from 
which  the  vilest  criminals  had  been  removed  to  make  room  for 
them;  where  the  light  of  day  hardly  penetrated,  and  where 
"  they  could  neither  sit  nor  lie  down,  they  were  so  crowded."  * 

The  Reformed  Church  of  Paris  was  in  a  pitiable  state,  so 
many  of  its  members  being  in  peril  of  their  lives.  Extra- 
ordinary prayers  were  offered  up  in  every  family  for  the  de- 
livery of  the  martyrs,  and  a  remonstrance  drawn  up  by  the 
elders  was  presented  to  the  king,  who  put  it  aside  unnoticed. 
But  (strange  to  say !)  there  was  no  eager  haste  to  punish  the 
prisoners  any  farther,  the  example  of  their  seizure  having 
frightened  many  back  to  orthodoxy.  But  orthodox  agitators 

*  Bonnet:  Lettres  de  Gi/nn,  ii.  125,  note.  Letter  from  Fr.  Morel.  The 
prisoners  were  120  to  130  in  number. 


42  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

were  busily  at  work  to  keep  up  the  popular  excitement  and 
prevent  the  escape  of  the  captives.  The  heretics  and  all  who 
would  shelter  them  were  vehemently  denounced  from  the  pul- 
pit, and  inflammatory  placards  were  stuck  on  every  Avail.  A 
verse  from  one  of  these,  posted  all  over  Paris  on  Christmas 
day,  1557,  will  show  the  style  in  which  the  popular  fury  was 
stirred  against  the  "  Lutherans." 

Paris,  en  ce  temps  froiduroux 
Que  les  nuits  sont  longues  et  fraiches, 
Tu  dois  bien  veiller  stir  tous  ceux 
Qui  font  aupres  de  toi  des  prechcs. 
Si,  de  bref,  tu  ne  les  depeches, 
Jamais  paix  n'auront  les  chreticns  ; 
Car  ceux  que  tu  souffrcs  et  liens 
Tecauseront  tant  de  courroux, 
Que  tu  diras,  toy  et  les  tiens  : 
Montagncs,  tombez  dessus  nous. 

When  the  excitement  had  abated,  and  the  affair  was  almost 
forgotten,  the  prisoners  of  the  Rue  St.  Jacques  were  brought 
to  trial.  Their  lives  were  forfeited  by  the  mere  fact  of  their 
presence  at  an  unlawful  assembly,  and  the  alternative  of  re- 
cantation or  death  was  presented  to  them;  but  they  would 
not  yield  an  inch.  They  found  that  man's  weakness  was 
God's  strength. 

Among  the  captives  was  Philippa  de  Lunz,  a  woman  of 
good  family,  a  widow,  and  only  twenty-two  years  old.  She 
was  interrogated  several  times,  but  her  answers  were  such  as 
to  destroy  all  hope  of  pardon.  On  the  27th  September,  1558, 
more  than  a  year  after  her  imprisonment,  she  was  led  out  to 
death,  in  company  with  Nicholas  Clinet  or  Olivet,  a  school- 
master, and  Taurin  Gravelle,  an  advocate,  both  elders  in  the 
Reformed  Church.  Before  they  were  placed  in  the  tumbrel 
that  was  to  carry  them  to  the  stake  in  the  Place  Maubert, 
they  were  to  have  their  tongues  cut  out,  to  prevent  their  pray- 
ing aloud  or  addressing  the  people  on  the  road  to  death.  The 
two  men  suffered  this  cruel  mutilation  without  a  groan. 
Turning  to  Philippa,  the  executioner  roughly  bade  her  put  out 
her  tongue.  She  did  so  immediately.  Even  he  was  struck  by 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  43 

her  intrepidity :  " Come  !  that's  well,  truande?  he  said ;  "you 
are  not  afraid  then?"  "As  I  do  not  fear  for  my  body,"  she 
replied,  "why  should  I  fear  for  my  tongue?"  The  knife 
flashed  an  instant  before  her  eyes  and  her  tongue  fell  to  the 
crround;  She  Avas  then  thrust  into  the  cart  at  the  feet  of  her 

O 

two  companions  and  bound  to  the  same  chain.  Before  leaving 
the  prison  she  had  taken  off  her  widow's  weeds  and  put  on 
the  best  garments  left  her,  saying :  "  Why  should  I  not  re- 
joice ?  I  am  going  to  meet  my  husband." 

Around  a  pile  of  faggots  in  the  Place  Maubert  there  had 
collected  all  that  was  vilest  in  Paris,  dancing  and  calling  out 
for  blood,  just  as  some  two  hundred  years  later  a  similar  mob 
danced  round  the  victims  of  the  guillotine.  The  king  is  said 
to  have  been  a  spectator  of  the  horrible  scene  that  followed. 
It  was  Philippa's  fate  to  look  on  while  her  two  companions 
were  burned  to  death — to  witness  their  horrible  convulsions, 
and  hear  the  shrieks  which  the  mounting  flames  extorted  from 
them.  But  even  this  did  not  shake  her  faith,  which  found 
support  in  earnest  prayer.  And  now  her  turn  had  come ;  the 
executioners  roughly  seized  her  with  their  strong  arms, 
shamefully  tearing  her  clothes,  and  held  her  over  the  hot  ashes 
until  her  feet  were  burned  to  the  bone.  Then  with  a  horrible 
refinement  of  cruelty  the  savage  torturers  hung  her  head- 
downward  in  the  fire,  until  the  scalp  Avas  burned  off  and  her 
eyes  scorched  out.  After  that  she  was  strangled,  and  heaven 
received  another  saint. 

A  few  days  later  four  more  of  the  prisoners  suffered  death 
at  the  same  place.  One  of  them,  as  he  opened  the  shutter 
of  his  cell  on  the  morning  of  his  execution,  that  he  might  be- 
hold the  sunrise  once  more,  exclaimed :  "  How  glorious  it  will 
be  when  we  are  exalted  above  all  this." 

One  of  Calvin's  noblest  letters  was  written  at  this  time  to 
the  prisoners  still  remaining  in  the  Chatelet,  and  more  partic- 
ularly to  the  women,  whom  he  exhorted  to  imitate  the  strength 
and  faith  of  Madame  de  Lunz :  "  If  men  are  weak  and  easily 
troubled,"  he  said,  "  the  weakness  of  your  sex  is  still  greater, 


44  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

according  to  the  order  of  nature.  But  God,  that  worketh  in 
weak  vessels,  will  show  forth  his  strength  in  the  infirmity  of 
his  people.  .  .  .  He  who  sets  xis  in  the  battle  supplies  us  from 
time  to  time  with  the  necessary  arms,  and  gives  us  skill  to  use 
them.  .  .  .  Consider  how  great  were  the  excellences  and 
firmness  of  the  women  at  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
When  the  apostles  had  forsaken  him,  they  still  remained  by 
him  with  marvelous  constancy,  and  a  woman  was  his  messen- 
ger to  inform  them  of  his  resurrection,  which  they  could  nei- 
ther believe  nor  understand.  If  he  so  honored  them  at  that 
time  and  gave  them  such  excellence,  do  you  think  he  has  less 
power  now,  or  that  he  has  changed  his  mind  ?"  Calvin  show- 
ed that  his  was  not  a  barren  sympathy  by  making  every  effort 
to  induce  the  cantons  of  Berne  and  Zurich  and  the  German 
princes  to  intercede  in  behalf  of  the  poor  prisoners.  Their 
intercession  prevailed  to  save  such  as  remained  alive.  The 
doors  of  the  Chatelet  were  thrown  open :  the  yoiinger  prison- 
ers were  transferred  to  monasteries  from  which  they  easily  es- 
caped ;  while  others  obtained  a  full  pardon  after  making  an 
ambiguous  confession  of  faith  before  the  bishop's  officers. 
Pope  Paul  IV.  complained  bitterly  of  this  moderation,  and  de- 
clared that  he  was  not  astonished  at  the  bad  state  of  affairs  in 
France,  now  that  the  king  trusted  more  in  the  support  of  her- 
etics than  in  the  protection  of  heaven.* 

Not  only  did  the  severe  measures  we  have  described  fail  of 
their  effect,  after  the  first  alarm  had  passed  away,  but  the  re- 
formed doctrines  made  so  many  new  converts  that  Beza,  writ- 
ing to  his  friend  Bullinger  about  this  time,  declared  "  that  the 
king  must  either  destroy  entire  cities,  or  make  some  conces- 
sion to  the  truth."f  The  severity  exercised  upon  the  mar- 
tyrs of  the  Rue  St.  Jacqiies  had  overleaped  itself.  A  contem- 
porary historian  and  a  Romanist  says,  that  such  mournful 
sights  disturbed  many  simple  souls,  who  could  not  forbear 

*  Raynald  :  Ann.  Eccles.  ad  an.  1557 ;  Sarpi :  Condi.  Trent,  lib.  v.  No.  33. 
t  "  Ant  integras  nrbes  absumere  aut  vcritati  locum  aliquem  concedere." — 
Baum :  T^elen  Bern's,  i.  p.  453. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  45 

thinking  that  the  men  and  women  who  could  undergo  such 
tortures  with  calmness  and  resolution  must  have  truth  on 
their  side,  and  he  adds  with  touching  simplicity,  "They 
could  not  contain  their  tears,  their  hearts  wept  as  well  as  their 
eyes."  * 

The  summer  of  1558  witnessed  a  singular  protest  against 
the  persecuting  and  obstructive  policy  of  the  Church.  It  as- 
sumed a  form,  and  was  carried  out  with  a  pertinacity  and  a 
malice  peculiarly  French.  Clement  Marot,  the  earliest  of 
French  poets  and  a  favorite  of  the  late  king,  had  translated 
some  of  the  Psalms  of  David  into  verse,  which  immediately 
became  popular.  They  sold  faster  than  they  could  be  print- 
ed. Francis  I.  quoted  them  on  his  dying-bed,f  and  by  his 
order  the  translator  had  presented  a  copy  of  his  first  series  of 
thirty  to  Charles  V.,  who  rewarded  him  for  it  and  pressed 
him  to  continue  it.J  The  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  French 
court  took  a  strange  delight  in  singing  them,  but  not  always 
to  the  most  appropriate  tunes.  The  martyrs  of  Meaiix  had 
sung  them  at  the  stake.  Henry  II.,  when  dauphin,  was  foiid 
of  singing  them ;  and  on  one  occasion,  when  recovering  from 
an  illness,  he  had  them  chanted  to  him  by  his  choristers, 
with  the  accompaniment  of  "  lutes,  viols,  spinnets,  and  flutes." 
His  favorite  was  the  128th  Psalm:  Blessed  is  every  one  that 
feareth  the  ion?,  which  he  is  reported  to  have  set  to  music. 
Catherine  had  her  favorite :  0  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thine 
anger  ;  that  of  Diana  of  Poitiers  was  the  solemn  De  Profun- 
dis  (Ps.  120).  The  King  of  Navarre  selected  the  43d:  Judge 
me,  O  Lord  ;  and  even  Charles  IX.,  at  a  much  later  period, 
used  to  repeat,  As  pants  the  hart ;  probably  because  of  its  allu- 
sion  to  the  chase.  The  Protestants  of  France  sang  them  at  all 
times,  and  as  neither  the  music  nor  the  words  could  be  con- 
demned as  heretical,  §  they  were  sung  Avhen  no  other  mode  of 

*  Florimond  de  Remond  :  Hist,  des  Ufartyrs,  fol.  395. 
t  Strada  :  De  Bella  J3ely.  dec.  i.  lib.  3. 
J  Marot  translated  fifty,  Beza  the  remainder. 

§  Somewhat  later  (in  15GI)  the  Sorbonne  formally  declared  the  singing 
of  Psalms  not  contrary  to  the  Cathojic  faith. 


46  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

divine  worship  was  practicable.  Thus  when  the  citizens  took 
their  evening  walk  in  the  Pre  aux  Clercs,*  the  Hyde  Park  of 
those  days,  some  student  or  Reformer  would  strike  up  one  of 
Marot's  Psalms,  in  which  they  would  all  join.  Many  may 
have  done  this  out  of  pure  bravado,  but  others  out  of  love  for 
the  truths  they  contained.  The  King  and  Queen  of  Navarre 
were  fond  of  that  pleasant  promenade  by  the  river-side,  and 
took  delight  in  listening  to  this  multitudinous  singing. 

These  things  cease  to  move  us  now,  not  because  we  are  less 
religious,  but  because  we  are  less  demonstrative,  and  there  is 
no  opposition  to  force  us  into  an  external  display  of  our  faith. 
There  have  always  been  occasions  when  large  bodies  of  men 
have  tried  to  conceal  or  perhaps  to  alleviate  their  excitement 
by  singing.  Cromwell's  troopers  thundered  out  a  Psalm  as 
they  marched  up  the  breach  at  Dunkirk,  and  the  Girondins 
sang  the  Marseillaise  as  they  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  guillo- 
tine. 

But  there  was  something  more  than  this  in  the  sudden  pop- 
ularity which  Marot's  Psalms  acquired  among  all  classes.  It 
was  the  revival  of  an  old  Christian  custom ;  it  popularized  a 
new  mode  of  worship.  In  the  earlier  and  purer  days  of  the 
Church,  singing  had  been  congregational ;  but  it  had  long 
since  become  the  business  of  priest  and  chorister  solely.  The 
old  tunes  had  grown  obsolete,  and  airs  wqdded  to  mundane 
songs  had  been  introduced  into  the  Church  service.  "The 
Miserere  is  chanted  to  a  jig-tune,"  said  a  Catholic  writer. 
Other  influences,  many  of  them  sacerdotal,  were  at  work  to 
widen  the  interval  between  the  priest  and  his  flock — to  reduce 
public  worship  into  a  sort  of  theatrical  performance  in  which 
he  and  his  colleagues  were  the  actors,  and  the  others  the  spec- 
tators and  listeners.  But  if  the  people  did  not  sing  at  church, 
there  is  ample  evidence  that  they  sang  at  home ;  and  it  is  prob- 
ably owing  to  this  circumstance  that  we  possess  so  many  part- 

*  The  Pre  anx  Clcrcs  exists  no  longer,  not  even  in  name.  It  was  a  pleas- 
ant meailow  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  between  the  abbey  of  St.  Germain 
dcs  Pre's  and  the  Invalides. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  47 

songs  in  our  old  music-books.  It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  the 
Reformation  that  it  gave  a  religious  character  to  these  songs. 
Luther  and  Calvin  both  saw  how  music  might  be  employed  to 
advance  the  truth,  and  neglected  no  opportunity  of  recom- 
mending the  study  of  singing.  Luther  had  but  a  poor  opin- 
ion of  a  school-master  who  could  not  sing,  and  ranked  music 
next  to  theology.  "  It  has  been  commanded  unto  all  men,"  he 
said,  "  to  propagate  the  word  of  God  by  every  possible  means, 
not  merely  by  speech,  but  by  writing,  painting,  sculpture, 
jisalms,  sonys,  and  musical  instruments."  He  composed  many 
tunes  :  these  and  the  chorales  of  Senf  el  penetrated  into  France, 
and  German  airs  form  the  basis  of  a  large  part  of  the  French 
hymnal.  Calvin  took  no  less  pains  at  Geneva,  and  the  tunes 
composed  by  his  desire  were  distributed  by  thousands,  each 
part  being  printed  separately  to  facilitate  their  execution. 
Even  Catholics  were  to  be  found  using  these  Protestant  scores 
— a  practice  which  Florimond  de  Remond,  the  historian  of 
heresy,  bitterly  condemns  :  "  The  wise  world — stupidly  wise 
in  this — which  judges  of  things  by  outward  appearance  only, 
praised  this  kind  of  amusement,  not  seeing  that  under  this 
chant,  or  rather  new  enchantment,  a  thousand  pernicious  nov- 
elties crept  into  their  souls."  *  The  time  came,  however,  when 
even  psalm-singing  was  interdicted.  At  Bourges,  in  April, 
1559,  the  Reformed  began  to  hold  open-air  meetings,  similar  to 
those  at  Paris,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  orthodox,  who 
caused  proclamation  to  be  made  forbidding  the  singing  of 
Psalms  under  pain  of  death,  and  a  gibbet  was  erected,  in  ter- 
rorem,  in  the  middle  of  the  promenade  (the  Pre  Fichault) ; 
but  even  that  grim  monitor  failed  to  terrify  the  Reformers  into 
submission.  In  the  Velay,  the  opposition  was  equally  deter- 
mined. The  very  day  an  order  was  issued  forbidding  the 
people  to  sing  the  Psalms  of  that "  sacrilegious  apostate,"  Ma- 
rot,  the  heretics,  "  fearing  neither  God,  pope,  king,  law,  nor 
justice,  sang  them  ah1  the  louder."f 

*  Hist.  Heres.  f.  1033. 

t  "  Criant  par  depit  comnie  cricurs  d'oublies." — MS.  de  Medids. 


48  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Meanwhile  both  Franco  and  Spain  had  grown  weary  of  the 
war,  and  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  at  Cateau-Cambre- 
sis  (3d  April,  1559),  France  agreeing  to  give  up  all  her  con- 
quests. Indeed  that  country  was  exhausted,  and  her  treasury 
empty,  and  there  was  little  hope  that  the  people  would  submit 
to  additional  taxation.  Philip  II.  on  his  part  was  equally 
glad  to  put  an  end  to  hostilities,  which  prevented  him  from 
turning  his  attention  to  the  progress  of  heresy  in  the  Low 
Countries.  The  treaty  was  regarded  by  the  Reformers  as 
"  disgraceful  and  injurious  to  the  kingdom,"  and  with  our 
subsequent  knowledge  we  may  add,  full  of  danger  to  the  Re- 
formers themselves.  During  the  negotiations,  which  lasted 
from  January  to  April,  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine  had  sought  a  private  interview  with  the  Spanish 
Minister  Granvelle,  Bishop  of  Arras,  at  Peronne,  in  which 
they  expressed  their  devotion  to  Spain,  and  entered  into  a 
league  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy  in  Navarre,  France,  and 
the  Netherlands.*  What  after-thought  there  may  have  been 
in  the  cardinal's  mind  is  uncertain,  but  he  had  probably  hoped 
for  the  support  of  Spain  in  the  ambitious  views  of  his  family 
upon  the  crown  of  France. 

The  treaty  had  been  concluded  in  opposition  to  the  advice 
of  the  Guises,  who  consequently  fell  into  disgrace  at  court, 
while  the  constable  triumphed.  Henry  seems,  indeed,  never 
to  have  liked  the  Lorraine  family,  and  his  feeling  toward 
them  is  strongly  marked  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Montmorency, 
then  a  prisoner :  "  I  have  been  constrained  to  create  the  Duke 
of  Guise  lieutenant-general;  also  affairs  have  now  compelled 
me  to  conclude  the  marriage  of  the  dauphin  with  the  duke's 
niece  (Mary  Stuart),  and  likewise  to  do  many  other  things. 


*  This  probably  is  what  the  English  commissioner  alludes  to,  when  writ- 
ing in  January,  1559,  he  says:  "There  was  an  appointment  made  between 
the  late  pope,  the  King  of  Spain,  and  the  French  king,  fur  the  joining  of 
their  forces  together  for  the  suppression  of  religion." — Forbes :  Full  View  of 
the  Public  Transactions  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  i.  p.  196  (fol.  Lond. 
1740). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  49 

Time,  however,  m'en  fera  raison"  *  By  the  treaty  the  Cardi- 
nal of  Lorraine  lost  three  sees,  and  he  swore  to  be  avenged  of 
Montmorency  and  the  admiral.  In  this  he  so  far  succeeded, 
with  the  help  of  Diana  of  Potiers,  who  worked  upon  the  king 
by  stories  of  the  increase  of  heresy,  that  the  persecution  which 
had  been  suspended  by  the  war  (except  in  the  affair  of  the 
Rue  St.  Jacques),  broke  out  again,  and  was  conducted  with 
more  regularity. 

The  Parliament  of  France  was  originally,  like  the  Parlia- 
ment of  England,  a  national  council  with  functions  both  legis- 
lative and  judicial.f  In  the  course  of  time  a  separation  of 
classes  and  powers  took  place :  in  England  the  judicial  power 
fell  into  disuse,  and  the  Parliament  became  a  mere  legislative 
body ;  in  France,  the  Parliament  lost  its  legislative  authority, 
and  subsided  into  a  high  court  of  justice  of  last  resort,  and  a 
court  of  revenue.  It  consisted  of  a  fixed  number  of  church- 
men, lay  peers,  and  councillors — all  equal  in  voice  and  author- 
ity. Each  province  had  its  independent  Parliament,  over 
which  that  of  Paris  asserted,  but  was  rarely  able  to  enforce,  its 
authority.  In  the  early  days  of  the  new  religious  movement, 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  was  hardly  less  hostile  than  the  Sor- 
bonne  to  the  new  doctrines ;  but  as  time  rolled  on  and  the 
principles  of  the  Reform  were  better  known,  the  Parliament 
became  divided  in  opinion.  As  in  ah1  similar  bodies,  there 
were  three  parties :  those  who  sympathized  with  the  religious 
reform  movement,  those  who  were  opposed  to  it,  and  those 
who,  either  from  policy  or  coldness  of  temper,  floated  between 
the  two.  To  this  party  belonged  the  elder  De  Thou,  Harlay, 
and  Seguier,  all  members  of  the  Tournelle.  On  the  last 
Wednesday  in  April,  1559,  Bourdin,  the  king's  proctor-gener- 
al, made  a  proposition  that  as  the  laws  were  enforced  so  irreg- 
ularly— the  Grand  Chamber  burning  heretics  implacably,  the 

*  Vauvilliors,  i.  p.  89. 

t  During  the  period  embraced  in  this  volume  there  were  only  eight  Par- 
liaments,  those  of  Paris,  Toulouse,  Grenoble,  Bordeaux,  Dijon,  Rouen,  Aix, 
Rennes. 

D 


50  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Tournelle  only  banishing  them,  to  the  great  scandal  of  justice 
— the  two  courts  should  come  to  some  arrangement  by  which 
uniformity  of  action  would  be  insured.  Each  judge  gave  his 
opinion,  and  there  was  naturally  great  diversity  of  sentiment. 
Arnauld  du  Ferrier  proposed  the  convocation  of  a  general 
council  for  the  settlement  of  all  religious  controversies,  and  that 
in  the  mean  time  all  measures  against  the  Reformed  should  be 
suspended.  This  learned  lawyer,  like  many  others  of  his  day, 
not  only  did  not  appear  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  the] 
Romish  and  the  Reformed  religions  existing  quietly  side  by 
side  in  France,  but  thought  the  differences  between  the  two 
were  so  trifling  that  union  might  be  restored  by  a  few  mutual 
concessions.  Arnauld's  proposal  was  supported  by  a  majority 
of  the  meeting,*  and,  among  others,  by  Anthony  Fumee, 
whose  father  and  grandfather  had  filled  the  highest  judicial 
offices.  He  not  only  vindicated  the  Calvinistic  interpretation 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's-supper,  but  advised  an  address 
to  the  king,  praying  him  to  summon  a  general  council,  in  which 
all  erroneous  doctrines  should  be  exposed,  and  all  heresies  con- 
demned; and  that  the  persecution  of  those  who  hold  hetero- 
dox opinions  upon  secondary  points  should  cease.  The  mat- 
ter began  to  look  so  serious  that  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois 
urged  Henry  II.  "  to  hang  half  a  dozen  at  least  of  the  coun- 
cillors as  heretics,"  and  show  Spain  (with  whom  the  marriage- 
treaty  between  Philip  II.  and  Isabella  was  going  on)  that  he 
was  firm  in  the  faith,  and  would  not  tolerate  heresy.  The  Car- 
dinal of  Lorraine  strongly  advised  a  similar  course;  while 
Marshal  Vieilleville  tried  to  dissuade  the  king :  "  Sire,"  he 
said, "  if  you  think  of  going  to  play  the  theologian  or  inquisitor, 
we  must  get  the  cardinal  to  come  and  teach  us  how  to  hold 
our  lances  in  the  tournament."  f  But  the  churchman  prevail- 
ed ;,  not,  however,  until  the  king  was  threatened  with  the  an- 
ger of  God  if  he  refused  a  Mercurial  against  those  free-think- 
ing lawyers.  These  Mercurials  were  assemblies  of  the  Parlia- 

*  Lft  vraie  Hist,  de  la  Proc.  contre  Du  Bourg. :  Mem.  de  Conde,  i.  220. 
t  Mem.  de  Vieilleville,  p.  705  (Pantheon  Litt.) 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  51 

ment  held  on  Wednesday  (dies  Mercurii},  at  which  the  mem- 
bers of  that  body  were  censured  for  any  thing  they  might 
have  done  contrary  to  their  dignity  or  duty.  The  word  was 
afterward  extended  to  the  censure  or  judgment  itself.  On 
the  15th  June,  1559,  "after  dinner"  (about  noon)  Henry,  at- 
tended by  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Guise,  unexpectedly 
entered  the  great  hall  of  the  Augustines'  convent,  where  the 
sittings  of  Parliament  were  temporarily  held,  just  as  the  coun- 
cillors were  discussing  the  means  of  settling  a  uniform  juris- 
prudence in  heretical  matters.*  After  taking  his  seat,  the 
king  said :  "  I  desire  to  secure  the  repose  of  my  kingdom, 
and  the  maintenance  of  religion.  Having  concluded  a  peace 
abroad,  I  will  not  have  it  disturbed  at  hqnie  by  religious  dis- 
orders. For  this  reason  I  am  come  among  you,  that  I  may 
hear  what  is  your  opinion  about  the  present  religious  differ- 
ences, and  know  why  you  have  not  carried  out  my  edicts  con- 
straining the  judges  to  condemn  all  Lutherans  to  death." 
T'ndismayed  by  the  king's  presence,  the  moderate  party  de- 
fended what  they  had  done.  Louis  du  Faur  acknowledged 
that  the  present  troubles  were  caused  by  religion,  but  he  add- 
ed :  "  "We  must  trace  them  back  to  their  source,  lest  we  be 
exposed  to  the  reproach  the  prophet  Elijah  made  to  King 
Ahab  :  '  I  have  not  troubled  Israel,  but  thou  and  thy  father's 
house.' "  Anne  du  Bourg  was  equally  bold  in  his  language : 
"  There  are  certain  crimes,"  he  said,  "  that  deserve  to  be  pun- 
ished without  mercy ;  such  are  .adultery,  blasphemy,  and  per- 
jury, which  are  countenanced  daily  by  men  of  disorderly  life 
and  infamous  amours.  But  of  what  do  men  accuse  those  who 
are  handed  over  to  the  executioner  ?  of  treason  ?  .  .  .  .  They 
never  omit  the  name  of  the  king  from  their  prayers.  What 
revolt  have  they  headed  ?  what  sedition  have  they  stirred  up  ? 
What !  because  they  have  discovered,  by  the  light  of  Holy 
Scripture,  the  great  vices  and  the  scandalous  offenses  of  the 

*  The  date  is  uncertain  ;  some  give  the  10th  March,  but  the  discussion 
did  not  begin  until  the  26tli  April.  Felice  says  the  10th  August,  which 
must  be  a  misprint; 


52  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Roman  Church — because  they  have  petitioned  for  a  reform* 
is  that  an  offense  worthy  of  the  stake  ?"  The  king  trembled 
with  anger,  but  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  first  president, 
Gilles  le  Maistre,  who  advised  him  to  treat  the  new  sectarians 
as  the  Albigenses  had  been  treated  by  Philip  Augustus,  who 
burned  six  hundred  of  them  in  one  day ;  and  the  Vaudois  by 
Francis  I.,  who  killed  them  in  their  own  houses,  or  stifled  them 
in  the  caverns  to  which  they  had  fled  for  refuge.*  Henry 
closed  the  sitting  by  reprimanding  the  judges  for  their  laxness 
in  administering  the  laws  against  heresy,  and  ordered  Du  Faur 
and  Du  Bourg  to  be  arrested — the  first  for  having  spoken  of 
Ahab,  the  second  for  condemning  adultery,  both  of  which  the 
king  applied  to  himself.  Montgomery,  captain  of  the  royal 
archers,  seized  the  two  lawyers  and  conveyed  them  to  the  Bas- 
tille. This  was  the  same  Montgomery  who  was  shortly  to  be 
the  innocent  cause  of  Henry's  death,  and  some  years  later  to 
die  on  the  scaffold  as  a  heretic  and  traitor.  The  two  prison- 
ers were  put  into  separate  dungeons,  and  denied  the  use  of  pa- 
per, ink,  and  books,  or  communication  with  their  friends. 
The  king,  unwilling  to  leave  them  to  be  tried  before  an  ordi- 
nary tribunal,  appointed  a  commission  to  hear  and  condemn 
them,  unless  they  retracted,  and  swore  he  would  have  them 
burned  before  his  eyes. 

Da  Bourg's  arrest  was  not  a  solitary  act  of  persecution. 
By  the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambfesis,  Henry  and  Philip  had 
bound  themselves  to  maintain  the  Catholic  worship  inviolate, 
to  assemble  a  general  council,  and  to  extinguish  heresy  in 
their  respective  dominions. f  To  William  of  Orange,  rightly 
surnamed  the  Taciturn,  then  a  hostage  for  the  due  execution 
of  the  treaty,  the  king  imparted  the  secret  of  these  negotia- 
tions with  the  King  of  Spain.  |  William  listened,  but  held 

*  Throckmorton  to  Queen,  19th  June,  1559,  gives  an  account  of  this  re- 
markable sitting,  in  which  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  displayed  his  usual  vio- 
lence of  language.  Forbes:  Full  View,  i.  p.  12G. 

t  Abbe  Caveyrac  says ;  "It  was  his  fixed  intention  to  destroy  the  Protest- 
ants."— Apologie  de  Louis  XIV.  p.  33.  . 

t  Groen  van  Prinsterer  :   'Archives,  Ser.  i.  1841,  vol.  i.  p.  34.      The  plot 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  53 

his  peace,  and  it  was  probably  his  knowledge  of  this  project- 
ed massacre — delayed  for  thirteen  years — that  converted  him 
into  the  liberator  of  the  Netherlands. 

The  violence  with  which  the  storm  of  persecution  raged 
may  be  conceived  from  a  few  isolated  examples.  The  edicts 
were  enforced  with  such  vigor  that  the  Reformed  feared  to 
meet  in  groups  of  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  at  a  time.  In 
some  places  they  ceased  altogether  to  assemble,  or  else  they 
met  in  the  woods  and  fields,  in  caves  and  quarries.  Great 
mystery  was  used  in  summoning  the  faithful  together.  On 
the  evenings  when  there  was  to  be  a  sermon,  a  man  would  go 
through  the  streets  and  whistle  the  signal.  If  there  was  rea- 
son to  fear  the  watch  or  patrol,  the  sumnioner  carried  a  lan- 
tern of  a  peculiar  form,  and  passed  along  without  uttering  a 
word.  The  worshipers  crept  muffled  up  to  the  place  assign- 
ed, where  they  sang  in  -a  supressed  voice  one  of  Marot's 
Psalms,  prayed,  and  then  separated,  often  without  any  ser- 
mon. It  was  this  meeting  by  night  which  gave  a  substance 
to  the  licentious  and  calumnious  stories  told  of  the  Reformed.* 

The  Parliament  of  Bordeaux  received  instructions  to  hold 
the  "grand  jours,"  or  special  assize,  at  Saintes,  not  that  they 
might  listen  to  the  grievances  of  the  people,  as  was  the  an- 
cient custom,  but  to  operate  on  a  large  scale  against  heresy. 
When  ah1  the  prisons  in  Saintonge  were  crammed,  the  rest  of 
the  heretics  were,  sent  to  Bordeaux.  In  order  to  remove  the 
odium  under  which  they  labored,  the  Reformers  of  France  re- 
solved to  draw  up  a  confession  of  their  faith,  and  lay  it  before 
the  king,  begging  Anthony  of  Navarre,  Governor  of  Gui- 
enne,  to  present  it,  adding  that  they  were  prepared,  if  neces- 
sary, "  one  and  all  to  seal  their  faith  with  their  blood."  But 
Anthony  objected,  and  like  a  true  man  of  the  world  as  he 

was  first  made  known  in  the  Apology  published  by- the  Prince  of  Orange. 
Alva  said  that  Henry  had  made  peace,  "para  que  el  quedasse  la  mano  li- 
!>era  para  remediar  lo." — Gachard,  ii.  p.  181  ;  Raynald  :  Ann.  Eccles. 

*  Du  Pnis,  a  Jacobite  priest,  asserted  "  qu'a  leur  pruche  les  fcmmes  s'aban- 
donnaient,"  etc.  See  Flocquet :  Hisi.pa.rl.  de  Normandie,  ii.  p.  3G5. 


54  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

always  was,  advised  them  to  keep  quiet  and  let  the  storm 
blow  over.  It  was  in  circumstances  such  as  these — in  the 
"  midst  of  burning  piles,  and  gibbets  erected  in  every  corner 
of  the  city" — that  the  first  Protestant  synod  met  in  Paris 
(May,  1559),  and  continued  sitting  four  days.  Francis  Mo- 
rel, sire  of  Collonges,  a  gentleman  by  birth,  and  now  pastor 
of  the  metropolitan  church,  was  their  president.  Not  more 
than  a  dozen  provincial  churches — there  is  a  slight  discrep- 
ancy in  the  numbers — sent  deputies  ;  but,  being  earnest  men, 
they  soon  succeeded  in  giving  French  Protestantism  the 
organization  which  it  has  preserved,  with  few  trifling  excep- 
tions, until  the  present  day.  The  church  in  Paris  had  been 
the  first  to  organize  itself  with  pastor,  elders,  and  deacons,* 
and  the  example  wTas  speedily  followed  by  many  provincial 
cities ;  but  these  churches  were  all  isolated,  and  it  was  felt 
that  by  uniting  into  one  body,  they  would  be  stronger  against 
their  enemies,  as  well  as  richer  in  the  divine  graces. 

In  thus  assembling  together  the  deputies  carried  their  lives 
in  their  hands,  for,  by  an  edict  then  in  force,  all  preachers 
found  in  the  kingdom  were  to  be  put  to  death.  But,  unde- 
terred by  peril,  they  drew  up  a  Confession  of  Faith  and  a 
Book  of  Discipline,  each  consisting  of  forty  articles.  In  the 
former  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  was  laid  down  with  a 
thoroughness  somewhat  startling.  Thus  the  fortieth  article 
says :  "  We  must  obey  the  laws  and  ordinances,  pay  tribute, 
tax,  and  other  dues,  and  bear  the  yoke  of  subjection  with  good 
and  hearty  will,  even  should  the  magistrates  be  infidels.  .  .  . 
Furthermore,  we  detest  those  who  would  reject  superiori- 
ties, set  up  a  community  of  goods,  and  overthrow  the  order 
of  justice."  The  synod  clenched  these  doctrines  by  reference 
to  Matthew  xvii.  24,  and  Acts  vi.  17-19.  Calvin's  opinions 
on  this  point  are  briefly  shown  in  one  of  his  sermons  deliv- 
ered three  or  four  years  later :  "  All  principalities  are  types  of 

*  This  organization  was  to  a  great  extent  the  work  of  a  gentleman  of 
Maine,  by  name  La  Ferriere,  who  had  removed  to  Paris  to  escape  religious 
surveillance  (1555). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  55 

the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ ;  we  must  hold  them  precious, 
and  pray  God  to  make  them  prosper."  *  Yet  the  ecclesias- 
tical constitution  which  he  drafted  was  entirely  republican  in 
form,  every  thing  being  made  to  depend  upon  the  votes  of 
the  people,  who  elected  a  consistory  (or  kirk-session),  which 
chose  the  pastor,  whose  final  appointment  rested  on  the  deci- 
sion of  the  congregation.  A  certain  number  of  churches 
formed  a  conference  or  presbytery  which  met  twice  a  year, 
and  in  which  each  church  was  represented  by  the  pastor  and 
one  elder.  These  presbyteries  united  into  provincial  synods, 
and  above  them  all  presided  a  general  assembly,  the  supreme 
court  of  legislation  and  appeal,  composed  of  two  pastors  and 
two  elders  from  each  provincial  synod. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  organization  of  the  Re- 
formed churches  added  another  element  of  strife  to  the  con- 
test between  the  two  religions.  The  Romish  clergy  natu- 
rally abhorred  it,  as  a  sign  of  the  increasing  power  and  bold- 
ness of  the  Reformed  party ;  while  the  statesmen  of  the  day 
could  not  but  look  upon  it  with  suspicion  as  a  sort  of  impe- 
rium  in  imperio — a  dangerous  rival  to  the  civil  power,  and 
savoring  of  rebellion,  inasmuch  as  it  ignored  the  headship 
alike  of  pope  and  king,  acknowledging  that  of  God  alone. 
Men  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  examine  closely  into  the 
causes  of  their  dislike  :  they  felt  instinctively  that  such  an 
organization  proclaimed  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and 
that  the  doctrine  might  easily  be  extended  from  spiritual  to 
temporal  matters.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  chief  Cal- 
vinistic  churches  shows  that  this  instinctive  hatred  was  not 
altogether  unreasonable.  In  Switzerland  and  Holland,  in 
England  and  in  North  America,  wherever  this  organization 
has  been  able  to  control  the  political  power,  a  republic  has 
followed.  These  are  indeed  the  parts  of  the  world  where 
liberty  flourishes  most,  and  for  this  noble  fruit  we  may  well 
love  the  tree  that  bore  it ;  but  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the 

*  Calvin:  Serin,  sur  Timot/tee,  p.  C5  (4to  1563). 


56  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

tendency  of  society  was  toward  despotism,  not  toward  self- 
government  ;  and  the  statesmen  of  Europe  must  be  excused  if 
they  were  not  clear-sighted  enough  to  see  that  the  new  move- 
ment must  inevitably  succeed,  or  wise  enough  to  become  the 
leaders  and  controllers  of  the  popular  feelings.  And  so  far  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  Calvin's  influence  in  France  was 
altogether  for  good,  and  whether  the  Reformed  Church  would 
not  have  struck  deeper  root  in  that  country,  if  its  organiza- 
tion had  been  less  antagonistic.  By  separating  itself  entirely 
from  antiquity,  it  risked  a  doubtful  good  for  a  certain  evil. 
As  church-government  is  not  a  matter  of  faith  but  of  disci- 
pline, those  have  much  to  answer  for  who  array  Christians  in 
hostile  ranks  on  a  secondary  matter. 

The  news  of  this  synod  and  the  merciful  tendency  of  the 
Parliament  inflamed  Henry's  orthodoxy  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  issued  an  edict  (June,  1559)  more  terrible  even  than  those 
which  had  gone  before.  It  was  dated  from  Ecouen,  a  castle 
belonging  to  the  constable,  and  situated  about  four  leagues 
north  of  Paris.  By  that  decree  all  convicted  Lutherans  were 
to  be  punished  with  death — instant  and  without  the  chance 
of  remission.  It  was  registered  by  all  the  Parliaments  with- 
out any  limitation  or  modification  whatsoever,  and  the  judges 
were  forbidden,  under  severe  penalties,  to  diminish  the  pains 
of  the  edict,  as  they  had  lately  been  in  the  habit  of  doing. 
Such  terrible  powers  could  scarcely  have  failed  completely  to 
eradicate  heresy,  if  they  had  been  carried  out  as  Henry  II. 
intended  they  should  be.  But  there  was  a  providence  watch- 
ing over  France,  by  which  the  religionists  were  unexpectedly 
saved  from  the  jaws  of  the  lion. 

One  of  the  regulations  of  the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis 
was  that  Philip  II. — now  a  widower  through  the  death  of 
Mary  of  England  in  the  preceding  November — should  marry 
Henry's  sister,  Elizabeth  of  Valois,  then  just  turned  of  thir- 
teen. The  betrothal  was  to  take  place  at  Paris,  and  thither 
came  the  Duke  of  Alva,  attended  by  a  numerous  suite  of 
nobles  and  gentlemen.  Even  at  such  a  time,  when  we  might 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  57 

suppose  the  king  entirely  occupied  with  nuptial  festivities — 
for  his  sister  Margaret  was  also  to  be  married — he  proposed 
a  crusade  against  Geneva,  "  that  sink  of  all  corruption,"  * 
and,  but  a  few  hours  before  his  death,  he  had  given  Mont- 
gomery instructions  about  an  expedition  on  a  grand  scale  into 
the  Pays  de  Caux  for  the  extermination  of  the  Reformed. 
But  the  finger  of  God  was  upon  him. 

On  the  26th  June,f  the  Spanish  marriage  was  celebrated, 
the  Duke  of  Alva  acting  as  proxy  for  Philip  II.  Magnificent 
rejoicings  followed  the  ceremony,  and  a  tournament  was  held 
in  the  lists  erected  at  the  end  of  the  Rue  St.  Antoine.  It  must 
have  been  a  grand  sight,  that  old  historic  street.  In  front  of 
the  palace  of  the  Tournelles  stood  a  gallery  in  which  sat  the 
youthful  Queen  of  Spain  under  a  canopy  of  blue  silk,  ornament- 
ed with  the  device  of  her  husband  whom  she  had  not  yet  seen. 
Around  her  were  grouped  men  destined  to  become  famous  in 
history:  Alva,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  Count  Egmont. 
Catherine  sat  in  a  gallery  apart,  with  Mary  Stuart  on  her 
right,  and  Margaret,  affianced  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  on  her 
left.  The  king  had  declared  his  intention  of  entering  the  lists, 
in  order  to  display  his  skill  before  the  Spanish  grandees.  As 
if  foreseeing  evil,  the  queen  besought  him  to  forego  the  dan- 
gerous pastime ;  but,  confident  in  himself,  he  only  laughed  at 
her  fears.  After  two  successful  encounters  with  the  Dukes  of 
Savoy  and  Guise,  he  challenged  Gabriel  de  Lorges,  Count  of 
Montgomery.  De  Lorges  was  captain  of  Henry's  Scotch 
guard,  and  had  been  sent  to  Scotland  by  Francis  I.  in  1545, 
in  command  of  the  troops  dispatched  to  the  assistance  of  the 
queen-regent  Mary  of  Guise.  In  the  first  course  the  advan- 
tage lay  with  the  count,  and  the  king,  chafed  by  such  a  partial 
discomfiture,  challenged  him.  to  try  another  turn.  The  queen 
and  Marshal  de  Vieilleville  entreated  him  to  be  satisfied,  and 
Montgomery  declined  a  second  encounter.  But  Henry  Avould 
take  no  refusal.  Once  more  they  met ;  their  lances  were  shiver- 

*  Alvn  to  Philip:  Journ.  des  Savants,  1857,  p.  171. 

t  Art  de  verifier  Ics  dates.     Other  authorities  give  June  21  and  24. 


58"  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ed,  but  both  retained  their  seats.  Again  the  trumpets  sound- 
ed, again  they  spurred  their  horses,  Avhen  Montgomery's  lance 
Struck  the  king's  helmet,  knocked  off  the  plume,  and  snapped 
in  two,  a  splinter  from  the  lower  portion  of  the  shaft  entering 
his  right  eye.  There  was  a  loud  shriek  from  the  royal  gallery, 
which  for  a  moment  distracted  the  attention  of  the  spectators 
•from  the  king,  who  had  lost  all  command  over  his  horse,  and 
was  reeling  in  his  saddle.  The  attendants  were  hardly  quick 
enough  to  save  him  from  falling  to  the  ground.  His  helmet 
was  loosed  and  the  splinter  pulled  out.  It  was  "  of  a  good 
bigness,"  says  the  English  embassador,  who  was  an  eye-wit- 
ness.* "  Nothing  else  was  done  to  him  upon  the  field ;  but  I 
noted  him  to  be  very  weak,  and  to  have  the  feeling  of  all  his 
limbs  almost  benumbed ;  for  being  carried  away  as  he  lay 
along,  nothing  covered  but  his  face,  he  moved  neither  hand 
nor  foot,  but  lay  as  one  amazed.  There  was  marvelous  great 
lamentation  made  for  him,  and  weeping  of  all  sorts,  both  men 
and  women."  The  wound  proved  more  serious  than  Throck- 
morton  had  imagined :  Henry  never  left  his  bed  again.  Twice 
he  received  the  last  sacraments  of  the  Church,  and  calling  for 
his  son  Francis,  "  commended  the  Church  and  the  people  to 
his  care.''  After  an  interval  of  repose — for  the  exertion  of 
uttering  these  few  words  was  almost  too  great  for  him — he 
added :  "  Above  all  things,  remain  steadfast  in  the  true  f  aith."f 
Henry  II.  died  on  the  10th  of  July,  leaving  behind  him  four 
sons,  three  of  whom  wore  the  crown  of  France.  He  also  left 
three  daughters  and  a  bastard  son,  Henry  of  Angouleme,  who 
cruelly  distinguished  himself  at  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew. 

The  Protestants  were  accused  of  rejoicing  at  Henry's  death: 

*  Throckmorton  to  Council,  1st  July,  1559;  Forbes,  i.  151;  Lettere  dei 
Prwjct)tt(14th  July,  1559),  iii.  19G.  Montgomery  escaped  to  England,  where 
he  embraced  the  Reformed  doctrines. 

J  Some  authorities  state  that,  though  Henry  lingered  eleven  days,  he  never 
recovered  either  speech  or  reason.  In  the  Chanson  de  Montgommery  (1574) 
we  read  that  he  "  pronon9a  a  voix  haute,  Quo  nlivais  nullement  vers  lui  corn- 
mis  la  faute." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  59 

they  not  only  made  songs  upon  it,  but  "  offered  thanks,  or 
rather  blasphemies,  to  God,  daring  to  say  that  the  Almighty 
had  struck  him  under  the  walls  of  the  Bastille,  where  he  de- 
tained the  innocent  in  prison."  *  It  is  possible  that  there 
may  be  some  foundation  for  this  charge,  for  it  requires  a  great 
amount  of  true  Christian  feeling  to  make  the  victims  forbear 
from  exulting  at  the  removal  of  their  persecutor  by  what 
seems  to  them  the  judgment  of  God.  In  his  dedicatory  epis- 
tle of  the  Psalms  done  into  French  Verse,  Beza  thus  paints 
the  second  Henry : 

Je  vois  un  masque  avec  sa  maigre  mine 
Qui  fait  trembler  les  lieux  ou  il  chemine. 

But  the  "  Lutherans  "  did  not  tremble :  they  bore  their  tes- 
timony with  Christian  resolution,  and  acted  up  to  the  noble 
lines  in  the  same  poem : 

S'il  faut  servir  au  Seigneur  de  temoins, 
Mourons,  mourons,  louans  Dieu  pour  le  moins. 
Au  departir  de  ces  lieux  miserables, 
Pour  traverser  aux  cieux  tant  de'sirables. 
Qve  les  tyrans  soient  de  nous  martyrer 
Plutut  lasses,  que  nous  de  tendurer. 

The  sincerity  of  Catherine's  grief  for  the  loss  of  her  hus-' 
band  has  been  much  doubted,  but  without  sufficient  cause. 
To  a  woman  of  her  temper  the  change  wrought  in  her  position 
by  widowhood  must  at  first  have  been  hard  to  bear.  She  cer- 
tainly felt  as  much  for  her  husband  while  living,  as  such  selfish 
natures  can  feel,  and  commemorated  her  bereavement  and 
regret  in  the  ornaments  of  her  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  where 
the  broken  mirrors,  plumes  reversed,  and  scattered  jewelry 
carved  on  certain  columns  have  been  regarded  as  emblems  of 
her  sorrow,  f  A  garrulous  contemporary  (whom  we  shah1  have 
frequent  occasion  to  quote),  lamenting  the  death  of  Henry  II., 
praises  him  particularly  for  the  discipline  he  introduced  into 

*  Mezeray,  ii.  1137.  Claude  Haton  charges  the  Protestants  with  trying 
to  kill  Henry  in  1558,  considering  him  "le  tyran  pers&uteur  de  Peglise  do 
Je'sus  Christ." 

t  Gail :  Tableaux  chronoloyiques,  p.  96  (8vo.  Paris,  1819) ;  also  Brantome. 


60  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  army,*  which  was  such  "  that  the  peasants  hardly  deigned 
to  shut  the  doors  of  their  cellars,  granaries,  chests,  or  other 
lock-up  places  for  fear  of  the  soldiers,  who  conducted  them- 
selves most  becomingly.  When  billeted  in  the  villages,  they 
would  not  venture  to  touch  the  hens  or  other  poultry  without 
first  asking  their  host's  leave  and  paying  for  them."f  It  is  a 
pity  to  spoil  so  Arcadian  a  story ;  but  if  it  is  true,  there  must 
have  been  a  sad  falling  off  in  the  military  discipline  in  a  few 
months,  for  Francis  II.  writes  in  1560  to  the  Duke  of  Aumale, 
then  in  Burgundy,  "  to  punish  the  men-at-arms  and  archers 
who  had  lived  without  paying.''^ 

*  This  discipline  was  in  reality  the  work  of  Coligny. 

f  Claude  Haton. 

J  Aoibespine  :  Doc.  Hist.  Francois  1 '/.,  torn.  ii.  p.  428. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  61 


CHAPTER  II. 

REIGX  OF  FRANCIS  II. 

[155D-15CO.] 

Catherine  de  Medicis — The  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine — 
St.  Andre — Anthony  of  Navarre  and  Conde' — Coligny  and  Andelot — 
Disgrace  of  Montmorency — Persecuting  Edicts — Execution  of  Du  Bourg 
— Discontent  in  France — Edict  of  Chambord — La  Renaudie— The  Meet- 
ing at  Nantes — Tumult  of  Amboise — Bloody  Reprisals — Castelnau's  Trial 
and  Execution — The  Duke's  Viands — Auhigne'  and  his  Son — Grace  of 
Amboise — Regnier  de  la  Planche — Renewal  of  Persecutions — L'Hopi- 
tal  made  Chancellor — Edict  of  Romorantin — Religious  and  Political  Mal- 
contents— Abuse  of  the  Pulpit — The  Tiger — General  Lawlessness — Hu- 
pufenot  Violence — Demand  for  a  Council — Montbrun  and  Mouvans — 
L'Hopital's  Inaugural  Address — Les  Politiques — The  Notables  at  Fon- 
tainebleau — Montluc  and  Marillac — Meeting  at  Nerac — Address  pre- 
sented to  Anthony — The  Court  at  Orleans — Arrest  and  Trial  of  Conde' — 
Death  of  Francis  II. 

FRAXCIS  II.,  husband  of  the  beautiful  and  unfortunate  Mary 
Stuart,  had  only  reached  his  sixteenth  year  when  he  ascended 
the  throne  (10th  July,  1559).*  On  the  very  day  of  his  father's 
funeral  he  gratified  his  mother's  ruling  passion  by  assuring 
her  that  all  authority  should  be  in  her  hands,  and  that  she 
should  administer  the  government  in  his  name.  But  she  had 
to  hold  her  own  against  unscrupulous  rivals ;  and  in  those  rude 
days  the  spindle  had  very  little  chance  against  the  sword,  un- 
less it  were  aided  by  dissimulation.  We  shall  see  that  Cath- 
erine met  force  with  craft,  proving  herself  at  times  more  than 
a  match  for  all  her  rivals.  She  soon  found  that  she  had  no 

*  Born  20th  January,  1544,  N.S.  The  medals  say  he  was  crowned  on 
the  17th,  Mezeray  the  19th,  and  Do  Thou  the  20th  Sept.,  1559.  Such  are 
the  discrepancies  continually  to  be  met  with  even  in  trivial  matters. 


62  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

chance  with  the  queen-consort,  who  used  all  her  influence  in 
behalf  of  the  house  of  Lorraine.  In  a  letter  to  her  daughter 
Elizabeth  she  says:  "God  has  deprived  me  of  your  father, 
whom  I  loved  so  dearly,  as  you  well  know,  and  has  left  me 
with  three  children  and  in  a  divided  kingdom.  I  have  no  one 
in  whom  I  can  trust :  all  have  some  private  end  to  serve." 
Mary  Stuart  behaved  to  her  with  all  the  insolence  of  youth 
and*eauty,  calling  her  a  Florentine  shop-keeper,*  and  Cather- 
ine returned  contempt  for  contempt. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  understand  the  stormy  period  upon 
which  we  are  now  entering,  unless  we  know  something  of  the 
parties  into  which  France,  as  weh1  as  the  court,  was  divided, 
and  of  the  individuals  at  their  head.  There  were  in  reality 
only  two  parties,  but  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  consider 
them  as  represented  by  the  four  houses  of  Guise,  Bourbon, 
Montmorency,  and  Chatillon.  The  most  formidable  of  these 
claimants  of  the  government  was  the  first — the  family  of  Guise, 
to  which  Mary  Stuart  belonged  on  her  mother's  side.  The 
power  of  this  house  dates  from  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  Gen- 
ealogists delight  to  trace  its  origin  back  to  Charlemagne,  and 
even  to  Priam,  King  of  Troy :  with  about  equal  truth  in  both 
cases.  The  chief  of  the  family  was  Claude,  son  of  that  Rene, 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  who  defeated  and  slew  Charles  the  Bold 
under  the  walls  of  Nancy.  Being  a  younger  son,  he  had  gone 
to  the  French  court  in  search  of  fortune,  and  the  search  was 
not  in  vain.  He  married  Antoinette  of  Bourbon,  a  descend- 
ant of  Louis  IX.,  and  dying,  left  six  sons  and  four  daughters, 
and  an  income  of  600,000  livres,  about  equivalent  to  160,000?. 
sterling.  The  eldest  of  his  sons  was  Francis,  Duke  of  Guise, 
now  in  his  fortieth  year,  a  skillful,  violent,  and  unscrupulous 
soldier.  He  kept  up  an  almost  royal  establishment ;  and  when 
his  steward  represented  to  him  that  the  best  way  of  getting 
out  of  his  pecuniary  embarrassments  would  be  to  retrench  his 
expenditure,  and  that  he  would  do  well  to  dismiss  a  number 

*  Card.  Santa  Croce  writes :  "La  Regina  di  Scotia  un  giorno  gli  disse 
che  non  sarebbe  mai  altro  die  figlia  di  un  mercantc." 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  63 

of  poor  gentlemen  who  lived  at  his  expense,  he  replied :  "  It 
is  true  I  do  not  want  them,  but  they  want  me."  He  was  ex- 
ceedingly popular  in  Paris,  ever  ready  to  listen  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  humblest  citizen ;  and  was  beloved  by  his  sol- 
diers, for  he  never  failed  to  recompense  any  remarkable  ex- 
ploit. After  the  surprise  of  Calais  he  appointed  one  Captain 
Gourdan  to  be  governor,  passing  over  many  officers  of  higher 
rank ;  and  when  these  murmured  at  the  preference,  the  duke 
justified  his  choice.  "Captain  Gourdan  is  very  useful,"  he 
said,  "  to  guard  the  place  he  helped  to  take,  and  where  he  left 
one  of  his  legs  during  the  assault.  You  have  two  legs,  gen- 
tlemen, with  which  you  can  go  and  seek  your  fortune  else- 
where." He  was  cool  in  the  midst  of  danger,  brave  as  his 
own  sword,  and  even  his  name  was  a  terror  to  his  enemies. 
At  Terouenne,  the  Spaniards  were  checked  in  the  very  moment 
of  victory  by  shouts  of  "  Guise !  Guise !"  Above  all,  the 
family  of  Lorraine  professed  to  be  the  champions  of  orthodoxy, 
and  Duke  Francis  in  particular  seems  to  have  entertained  an 
insurmountable  aversion  for  heresy  in  every  form.  He  pos- 
sessed almost  every  advantage  that  fortune  can  shower  upon 
a  man.  He  was  above  the  middle  height,  with  oval  face, 
large  eyes,  and  dark  complexion,  but  his  beard  and  hair 
were  reddened  by  exposure.  He  was  not  a  fluent  speaker, 
although  he  could  use  the  right  word  at  the  right  time.  He 
married  Anne  of  Este,  daughter  of  Renee  of  France,  grand- 
daughter of  Louis  XII.,  and  first  cousin  of  Henry  II. — a  con- 
nection which  will  partly  account  for  the  ambitious  schemes 
of  his  son. 

The  other  members  of  the  Lorraine  family  were  Charles,  the 
cardinal;  Claude,  Duke  of  Aumale,  who  married  Louisa  do 
Breze,  eldest  daughter  of  Diana  of  Poitiers ;  Francis,  grand- 
prior  of  Malta;  Louis,  Archbishop  of  Sens  and  afterward 
cardinal ;  and  Rene,  Marquis  of  Elbceuf ;  besides  three  sisters, 
one  of  whom  married,  first,  Louis  of  Orleans,  and  second, 
James  V.  of  Scotland,  to  whom  she  bore  a  daughter,  the 
unhappy  Mary  Stuart  of  Scottish  history.  When  they  were 


64:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

at  court,  the  four  younger  brothers  usually  waited  upon  the 
cardinal  at  his  rising,  and  then  all  five  proceeded  to  pay  their 
respects  to  the  duke,  by  whom  they  were  conducted  to  the 
king. 

Charles,  better  known  as  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  was  one 
of  the  wealthiest  ecclesiastics  of  the  day.  In  addition  to  his 
share  of  his  father's  large  fortune,  he  possessed  benefices  yield- 
ing him  a  yearly  income  of  300,000  livres.*  This  prelate, 
whom  Pius  V.  called  "  the  Ultramontane  Pope,"  was  a  man 
of  unbounded  ambition,  strong  passions,  great  craft,  and  such 
fertility  of  expedients,  that  his  enemies  declared  he  must  have 
a  familiar  spirit  at  his  elbow.  He  was  a  graceful  speaker,  and  of 
goodly  presence,!  but  such  an  arrant  coward,  that  (like  Horace) 
he  used  to  make  a  jest  of  it.  Charles  IX.  gave  him  permission 
to  be  attended  by  an  armed  guard  even  to  the  steps  of  the 
altar,  intermixing  the  Smell  of  gunpowder  with  the  odor  of 
incense."J  His  character  has  probably  been  much  distorted. 
He  had  enemies  everywhere,  and,  in  an  unscrupulous  age, 
slander  and  falsehood  were  ready  weapons  to  damage  a  rival. 
He  was  not  so  bad  as  many  churchmen  of  his  time ;  for  if  he 
was  profligate,  he  was  not  profligate  openly.  He  kept  neither 
hawks  nor  hounds ;  he  sang  mass  often,  fasted  regularly,  wore 
sackcloth,  and  always  said  grace  before  his  meals.  Claude  de 
Saintes,  who  was  in  almost  daily  attendance  upon  him  for  six- 
teen years,  speaks  of  the  mortifications  of  his  life,  and  denies 
his  excessive  timidity.  §  Contarini,  the  Venetian  ambassador, 
extols  his  virtuous  habits,  so  unlike  those  of  other  French  car- 
dinals ;  and  Giovanni  Soranzo,  writing  seven  years  later  (1558) 
says :  "  He  is  not  much  beloved ;  he  is  far  from  truthful,  nat- 

*  Le  Plat,  v.  p.  517. 

t  "  Pulchro  aspectu,  procera  statura,  facie  oblonga  [the  true  Lorraine 
face],  fronte  ampla  et  eminente."  Gallla  j>urj>urata.  Beza  said  :  "Had  I 
the  cardinal's  eloquence,  I  should  hope  to  convert  half  France." 

t  Auberi :  Hist.  Card.  Richelieu,  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  87  (ed.  1666). 

§  "Me  participem  fecit,  ut  tentationum  et  passionum  quibus  per  tot  an- 
nos  quotidie  moriebatur,  omni  hora  de  vita  periclitabatur  .  .  .  tarn  parum 
timidus  quam  nitnium  esse  putabatnr."  Bayle,  sfci  voce. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  65 

wally  deceitful  and  covetous,  but  full  of  religion"  *    The  re- 
ligion thus  praised  was  one  of  forms  only. 

There  is  a  letter  of  his  in  the  public  library  at  Rouen,  ad- 
dressed to  the  French  embassador  to  the  court  of  Spain,  in 
which,  speaking  of  his  retirement  to  his  diocese  of  Rheims 
during  the  season  of  Lent,  he  says :  "  I  have  nothing  to  write 
about  but  prayers  and  preaching,  in  which  I  am  busied,  in- 
structing my  little  flock,  whereat  I  assure  you  I  take  as  much 
pleasure  as  I  once  did  in  the  cares  and  toils  of  court,  and  I 
feel  such  sweetness  and  repose,  that  the  desire  to  return  to 
court  is  far  from  me."f  This  "  world  forgetting  by  the 
world  forgot "  is  too  common  with  statesmen  under  a  cloud  to 
be  taken  literally.  The  cardinal  was  vindictive  as  church- 
men (and  w^omen)  alone  can  be,  and  so  violent  that  he  often 
marred  his  brother's  plans.  The  intoxication  of  prosperity 
had  made  him  intolerable.^  Nor  did  his  religion  prevent  him 
from  being  covetous :  he  has  been  charged  with  robbing  his 
uncle's  creditors  by  taking  his  property,  and  with  appropri- 
ating the  estate  of  Dampierre,  which  belonged  to  Treasurer 
Duval ;  that  of  Meudon,  which  belonged  to  Cardinal  Sanguin- 
Meudon ;  and  that  of  Marchais,  which  belonged  to  the  Sire 
of  Longueval.  He  also  took  up  the  mortgaged  city  of 
Chevreuse  without  paying  for  it ;  and  rich  as  he  had  become 
through  these  exactions,  he  never  paid  his  debts.  He  was 
a  shameless  pluralist,  holding  at  once  the  archiepiscopal  sees 
of  Lyons,  Rheims,  Sens,  and  Narbonne,  the  bishoprics  of 
Metz,  Toul,  Verdun,  Terouenne,  Lu9on,  Alby,  and  Valence, 
and  the  abbeys  of  Fecamp,  Clugny,  and  Marmoutier.  The 
last-named  abbey  he  obtained  by  force.  Hurant  de  Chiverny 

*  "  Licenziosissimo  per  natura  .  .  .  ingordizia  inestimabile  ,  .  .  gran 
duplicitk."  Relazioni  d.  Amb.  Ven.  (ed.  Alberi),  p.  441. 

t  9th  April,  15G1.  MS.  in  Rouen  Library;  Leber,  bundle  B,  No.  5720. 
On  the  other  side,  see  the  "  Supplication,"  etc.,  reprinted  in  Bouille  :  Hist. 
Guise,  p.  77. 

J  Michcli  speaks  of  the  "  odio  universalc  eonccputo  contro  di  lui  per  i 
molti  cffetti  d'  offesa  che  mostro  verso  ognuno  raentre  nel  governo  ebbc  1' 
a  u  tori  t  a." 

E 


"66  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

being  unwilling  to  resign,  the  cardinal  shut  him  up  in  the 
Bastille,  where  he  dietl,  and  then  took  his  abbey.  In  despite 
of  his  greediness  the  French  clergy  had  a  boundless  devotion 
for  him."  * 

Among  the  chief  adherents  of  the  Lorraine  party  were  the 
Duke  of  Nemours,  Brissac,  and  Jacques  d'Albon,  Marshal 
of  St.  Andre.  The  latter  had  been  a  great  favorite  with 
Henry  II.,  who  loaded  him  with  presents.  He  was  brave,  in- 
sinuating in  address,  magnificent  in  disposition,  greedy,  and 
always  in  want  of  money.  He  received  the  order  of  the  Gar- 
ter from  Edward  VI.,  to  whom  he  had  been  sent  with  the 
decoration  of  St.  Michael. 

Another  competitor  for  the  government  was  Anthony  of 
Bourbon,  first  prince  of  the  blood.  He  traced  his  descent 
from  Louis  IX.,  who  left  two  sons,  Philip  III.  and  Robert : 
from  the  former  descended  the  house  of  Valois,  from  the  lat- 
ter the  house  of  Bourbon.  Of  this  there  were  two  branches 
— Vendome  and  Montpensier.  Anthony  was  the  head  of  the 
elder  branch,  but  his  younger  brother,  Louis  of  Conde,  Avas 
its  most  distinguished  member.  The  family  had  lost  much 
of  its  wealth  and  influence— especially  among  the  populace, 
who  are  always  the  first  to  take  up  and  the  last  to  discard  a 
personal  prejudice — in  consequence  of  the  treason  of  the  Con- 
stable of  Bourbon  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I.,  but  they  were 
still  powerful  enough  to  venture  to  aspire  to  the  crown.  An- 
thony, Duke  of  Vendome,  as  he  was  generally  styled  before 
his  marriage  with  Joan  of  Navarre,f  was  frank  and  affable, 
but  irresolute  and  deficient  in  moral  courage ;  he  was  of  no- 
ble presence,  fond  of  dress,  and  the  "mirror  of  fashion" 
among  the  courtiers.  Brave  in  the  field,  he  wanted  energy  in 
the  council-chamber ;  he  was  vacillating  in  religious  princi- 

*  In  the  museum  of  Orleans  there  is  a  striking  portrait  of  the  cardinal 
and  of  his  nephew,  Henry,  the  hero  of  the  Massncre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

t  He  was  born  in  1518,  and  in  1548  married  the  heiress  of  Navarre  (born 
1">28),  whose  dowry  consisted  of  the  principality  of  Beam  and  the  counties 
of  Armapnac,  Albret,  Bigorrc,  Foix,  and  Comminges.  Upper  Navarre  had 
been  seized  by  Spain. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  67 

pies,  and  of  loose  private  morals.  Thus  he  became  a  mere 
tool  in  the  hands  of  others,  and  though  trusted  by  no  one, 
was  courted  for  the  splendor  and  prestige  of  his  "name.  His 
only  aim  in  life  seemed  to  be  to  exchange  his  petty  nomi- 
nal sovereignty  of  Navarre  for  a  real  kingdom  no  matter 
where. 

Louis,  Prince  of  Conde,  now  in  his  twenty-ninth  year,  and 
the  youngest  of  the  family,  was  the  reverse  of  his  brother 
Anthony.  High-shouldered,  short,  ungraceful,  and  at  first 
sight  ill-adapted  either  for  court  or  camp,  he  shone  in  both. 
He  had  shared  with  the  Duke  of  Guise  the  honor  of  defend- 
ing Metz,  and  had  rallied  the  flying  troops  after  the  defeat  at 
St.  Quentin.  From  policy  he  seems  early  to  have  adopted 
the  Reformed  religion,  though  he  took  no  pains  to  live  up  to 
its  principles.  The  great  Reformed  party  was  to  him  a 
means  of  power  and  advancement.  By  his  marriage  with 
Eleanor  de  Roye,  the  richest  heiress  in  France,  he  united 
against  the  Guises  the  powerful  houses  of  Montmorency, 
Chatillon,  and  Rochefoucault  —  the  latter  being  connected 
with  the  royal  line  of  Navarre. 

A  third  brother  of  this  family  was  Charles,  Archbishop  of 
Rouen  and  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  a  weak  man,  not  overbur- 
dened with  sense,  who  adhered  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  To 
the  younger  branch  of  the  same  house  belonged  two  broth- 
ers, the  Duke  of  Montpensier  and  the  Prince  of  Roche-sur- 
Yon,  both  inclined  to  the  Reform. 

But  besides  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  Anthony  of  Navarre, 
there  was  a  man  of  noble  birth  and  large  family  influence — 
the  representative  of  a  great  party  in  the  kingdom — whom  it 
was  not  safe  to  neglect.  This  was  Gaspard  de  Coligny,  Gov- 
ernor of  Picardy,  Admiral  of  France,  and  second  son  of  the 
Count  of  Chatillon.  The  Chatillons  were  originally  a  sov- 
ereign house,  and  Gaspard's  father  had  been  a  marshal  of 
France.  He  had  married  Louisa  of  Montmorency,  sister  to 
the  constable,  and  thus  became  allied  to  one  of  the  noblest 
houses  in  France.  The  eldest  son  of  this  marriage  was  Car- 


68  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

dinal  (Met,  the  youngest  Frai^ois  de  Chatillon,  sieur  of  Ande- 
lot.* Gaspard,  Count  of  Coligny,  was  born  in  1518,  and  in 
his  earlier  years  was  very  intimate  with  Francis  of  Guise 
(then  Prince  of  Joinville).  lie  was  present  at  the  battle  of 
Renti,  all  the  glory  of  which  the  Lorraine  party  wished  to  as- 
cribe to  Prince  Francis.  Coligny  thought  "  he  might  have 
done  better,"  and  this  remark  being  exaggerated  by  false 
friends,  the  coolness  already  beginning  to  exist  between  them, 
and  which  was  the  work  of  Diana  of  Poitiers,  gradually  in- 
creased until  they  became  totally  estranged.  The  admiral 
was  at  one  time  a  great  favorite  with  Henry  II.  and  the 
sharer  of  all  his  pleasures.  He  was  Governor  of  the  Isle  of 
France,  captain  of  a  hundred  men-at-arms  (an  expensive  hon- 
or), and  knight  of  the  order  of  St.  Michael.  He  had  been  made 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin  (1557),  and  it  was  during 
the  consequent  enforced  retirement  from  public  life  that 
he  strengthened  those  religious  convictions  which  he  had  first 
learned  at  his  mother's  knee.  Andelot,  the  younger  brother, 
was  the  first  convert  to  the  new  opinions.  Made  prisoner  in 
1551,  and  detained  in  the  castle  of  Milan  until  1556,  he  em- 
ployed his  long  captivity  in  studying  the  works  of  Calvin : 
"  Such  are  the  sad  fruits  of  .leisure  and  idleness,"  says  Bran- 
tome  with  a  sigh.  He  was  taken  with  his  brother  at  the 
siege  of  St.  Quentin,  but  made  his  escape,  and  was  present 
at  the  surprise  of  Calais.  When  he  visited  his  vast  estates 
in  Brittany,  he  encouraged  two  Reformed  ministers  in  his 
suite  to  preach  openly  wherever  he  halted,  thus  laying  the 
foundations  of  many  a  Christian  churqh  in  the  north-west  of 
France.  Returning  to  the  court  where  he  was  in  high  favor 
with  Henry  II.,  he  was  denounced  by  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine as  a  heretic  and  impudent  violator  of  the  edicts.  To 
the  king's  questions  Andelot  replied  that  he  had  never  gone 

*  Marc  Duval's  engraving  of  the  three  brothers  is  well  known,  and  has 
often  been  copied.  In  the  Lenoir  Collection  (now  belonging  to  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland)  there  is  a  painting  of  the  three  brothers  ;  and,  if  I  am  correctly 
informed,  there  arc  other  portraits  at  Knowle  Park. 


70  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

nothing  so  dear  that  I  would  not  resign  it  willingly  for  the 
salvation  of  my  soul  and  God's  glory."  Pie  was  alike  un- 
moved by  the  tender  entreaties  of  his  wife,  Claude  do  Rieux, 
and  by  the  prudent  advice  of  his  brother  the  cardinal,  who 
urged  him  to  satisfy  Henry  II.  if  it  were  only  by  an  apparent 
submission.  At  length,  however,  he  consented  to  hold  a  con- 
ference with  a  learned  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  to  hear 
mass  in  his  presence,  but  without  previous  abjuration.  Cal- 
vin, who  had  written  exhorting  Audelot  to  be  firm,  now  re- 
proached him  for  his  weakness  ;  but  it  was  easy  for  the  Re- 
former of  Geneva,  who  was  in  a  place  of  safety,  and  who  had 
never  been  tested  by  the  fires  of  persecution,  to  censure  one 
whose  faith  was  weak,  and  whose  affectionate,  loyal  nature 
was  worked  upon  by  those  who  were  dearest  to  him. 

But  Andelot's  elder  brother,  Gaspard,  was  made  of  sterner 
stuff.  While  in  prison  the  Bible  was  his  constant  companion 
and  chief  study.  Calvin,  who  had  probably  heard  of  his  con- 
version through  Andelot,  wrote  to  him :  "  I  shall  use  no  long 
exhortation  to  confirm  you  in  patience,  for  I  have  heard  that 
our  gracious  God  hath  so  strengthened  you  by  the  virtue  of 
his  Spirit,  that  I  have  rather  occasion  to  return  thanks  to  him 
than  to  excite  you  more.  Only  I  would  pray  you  to  remem- 
ber that  God,  by  sending  you  this  affliction,  hath  wished  to 
draw  you  out  of  the  crowd,  that  you  may  the  better  listen  to 
him."  In  the  end,  Gaspard  adopted  the  Reformed  creed, 
and  became  the  idol  of  the  Reformed  party.  In  his  wife, 
Charlotte  de  Laval,  he  found  an  affectionate  sympathizer  in 
his  religious  opinions,  and  a  support  during  many  an  hour  of 
distress.  He  was  of  the  middle  height,  and  well-proportion- 
ed ;  he  stooped  a  little  as  if  in  meditation,  and  his  counte- 
nance was  always  calm  and  serious,  except  on  the  battle-field, 
where  (as  we  are  told)  his  face  lighted  up,  and  he  would  chew 
the  tooth-pick  which  he  used  to  carry  in  his  mouth.* 


*  Brnntomc  quotes  an  Italian  saying:   "Dio  me  gnarda  del  bel  gigneto 
del  Principe  (di  Conde')e  dell'  animo  e  stecco  dell'  Amiraglio."    There  was 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  71 

His  intrepidity  was  remarkable,  even  among  the  fearless 
men  of  his  day.  "  Do  not  go  to  Blois  to  the  king  and  the 
queen-mother,"  his  friends  said  to  him ;  "  be  sure  there  is 
some  plot  at  the  bottom."  "  Yes,  I  will  go,"  he  answered ; 
"  it  is  better  to  die  by  one  bold  stroke  than  to  live  a  hundred 
years  in  fear."  He  was  not  a  fortunate  commander,  but  was 
so  fertile  in  resource,  and  so  rapidly  did  he  reorganize  his 
beaten  troops,  that  he  was  said  to  be  more  formidable  after  a 
defeat  than  before  it.* 

At  the  death  of  Henry  II.  the  Constable  Montmorency 
was  at  the  head  of  the  government,  but  he  now  learned  that 
his  influence  had  expired  with  his  old  master.  "When  a  depu- 
tation from  the  Parliament  of  Paris  waited  upon  Francis  II. 
to  congratulate  him  on  his  accession,  he  told  them  that  he  had 
selected  his  uncles  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  the  Duke  of 
Guise  to  conduct  the  public  affairs,  and  that  to  them  they 
must  apply  in  future.  Montmorency  struggled  for  awhile, 
but  finding  no  support,  he  acted  upon  the  king's  suggestion 
and  retired  to  his  estate  at  Chantilly.  He  was  deprived  of 
the  high-stewardship  of  the  household,  and  the  office  was  con- 
ferred on  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who,  besides  assuming  the  war 
department,  was  lord  chamberlain  and  master  of  the  hounds. 
The  department  of  finance  was  assigned  to  the  cardinal,  and 
thus  the  two  brothers  disposed  of  all  France.  "  Not  a  crown 
could  be  spent  or  a  soldier  moved,"  says  Buchanan,  "  without 
their  consent."  f  Catherine  sympathized  with  Montmorency 
in  his  disgrace.  In  a  letter  to  him  she  says  :  "  I  very  much 
wish  your  health  might  permit  you  to  remain  at  court;  for 
then  I  believe  things  would  be  better  conducted  than  now, 
and  that  you  would  aid  me  to  deliver  the  king  from  tutelage, 

another  saying:  "  Deficz-voiis  du  cure-dents  de  1'Amira],  du  non  du  Conne't- 
nblc,  et  du  oul  dc  Catherine." 

*  Mr.  Crowe,  who  seems  to  have  taken  his  history  of  this  period  from  Da- 
vila,  calls  Coligny  "  a  man  of  bold  and  imposing  character,"  and  says  that 
he  and  Andclot  were  the  inspiring  causes  of  the  religions  wars.  So  far  as 
the  admiral  is  concerned,  this  is  quite  contrary  to  the  fact. 

t  Her.  Scot.  Hist,  lib.xvi.  p.  567  (ed.  1G68)" 


72  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

for  you  have  always  desired  that  your  master  should  be  obey- 
ed by  all  his  subjects." 

The  constable,  foreseeing  the  change  that  was  likely  to  take 
place  in  the  new  reign,  had  profited  by  the  last  few  days  of 
the  late  king's  life,  to  urge  Anthony  of  Navarre  to  come  to 
court  and  assert  his  rights  as  prince  of  the  blood  to  be  one 
of  the  new  council.  A  meeting  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Bourbon, 
or  opposition,  party  was  accordingly  summoned  at  Vendome 
to  decide  on  the  line  of  conduct  to  be  pursued.  Conde,  Co- 
ligny,  Andelot,  the  Vidame  of  Chartres  (Francis  of  Vendome), 
and  Prince  Porcien,  all  relations  and  friends,  attended  the 
summons.  In  the  interval  the  Guises  had  been  installed  in 
office,  and  the  question  now  arose,  how  their  government 
should  be  resisted.  Conde,  Andelot,  and  the  Vidame  were 
for  waf ;  the  admiral  advised  delay,  as  the  queen-mother 
would  be  sure  to  join  them,  if  she  found  securities  on  their 
side,  and  in  that  case  the  government  must  fall.  Moderate 
counsels  prevailed,  and  Anthony,  after  much  vacillation,  start- 
ed for .  the  court ;  but  Francis  II.  refused  to  see  him  except 
in  the  presence  of  his  ministers,  who  offered  him  every  indig- 
nity. At  length  Conde  joined  him,  and  instilling  some  of  his 
own  spirit  into  his  brother,  urged  him  to  assert  his  claim.  It 
was  granted  after  some  little  demur ;  but  he  was  too  much 
in  the  way,  and  to  get  rid  of  him  honorably  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  escort  the  Princess  Elizabeth  to  Spain.  He  fell  into 
the  trap  so  cunningly  laid  for  him,  and  the  Guises  were  once 
more  sole  masters.  Catherine  was  still  ostensibly  consulted, 
and  the  royal  edicts  continued  to  run  in  this  form  :  "  It  being 
the  good  pleasure  of  my  lady  the  queen-mother,  We  also  ap- 
proving the  things  which  she  advises,  are  content  and  com- 
mand that,"  etc. 

Whatever  little  influence  she  possessed  was  exerted  to  drive 
her  late  rival  Diana  from  court,  and  force  her  to  disgorge 
much  of  her  ill-gotten  wealth.  Afher  instance,  the  king  wrote 
to  the  fallen  favorite :  "  That  in  consequence  of  her  evil  in- 
fluence (mali  officii)  over  the  late  king  his  father,  she  de- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  73 

served  severe  punishment;  but,  in  his  royal  clemency, 
he  would  trouble  her  no  farther,  but  she  must  return  to 
him  all  the  jewels  that  had  been  given  her  by  the  king  his 
father."  * 

The  accession  of  the  young  king  produced  no  amelioration 
in  the  condition  of  the  Lutherans.  "  In  the  midst  of  all  these 
great  matters  and  business,"  writes  Throckmorton,  "  they  here 
do  not  stay  to  make  persecution  and  sacrifice  of  poor  souls. 
The  12th  of  this  month  [July]  two  men  and  one  woman  were 
executed  for  religion."  This  was  a  remnant  of  the  last  reign. 
That  the  new  reign  would  not  be  more  tolerant  was  shown  by 
a  proclamation  issued  the  next  day,  "by  sound  of  trumpet, 
that  all  such  as  should  speak  either  against  the  Church  or  the 
religion  now  used  in  France,  should  be  brought  before  the 
several  bishops,  and  they  to  do  execution  upon  them."f  The 
edict  of  Villars-Cotteret  (4th  September)  forbade  all  "  unlaw- 
ful "  meetings,  whether  by  night  or  by  day ;  the  houses  in 
which  such  meetings  were  held  were  to  be  pulled  down,  and 
the  proprietors  held  to  bail  for  their  future  good  behavior. 
Another  edict  (that  of  Blois,  November,  1559)  punished  all 
who  attended  the  assemblies  with  death  "without  hope  of 
pardon  or  mitigation."  By  other  decrees  (13th  November)  a 
reward  of  100  crowns  and  a  free  pardon  were  offered  to  any 
person  who  should  give  information  of  a  secret  meeting.  Nor 
were  these  severe  measures  confined  to  Paris.  On  23d  Sep- 
tember, 1559,  the  magistrates  of  Poitiers  issued  an  order  for- 
bidding religious  assemblies,  enjoining  all  strangers  to  leave 
the  town  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  innkeepers  to  send  in  lists 
of  the  lodgers  in  their  houses.  There  was  to  be  no  preaching 
in  public  or  private,  the  citizens  were  to  give  neither  fire  nor 
water  to  the  pastors  whom  any  body  might  arrest,  they  were 
to  be  tried  for  sedition,  and  the  lightest  penalty  was  con- 

*  Lippomano  in  Baschet,  p.  494 ;  Throckmorton  to  Queen,  13th  July, 
1560,  in  Forbes,  i.  p.  159. 

t  Throckmorton  says  that  the  cardinal  took  pattern  from  the  proclama- 
tions and  injunctions  of  Pole  and  Bonner.  Forbes,  i.  p.  161  and  233. 


7-i  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BAKTHOLOME  w. 

fiscation  of  goods.*  The  result  was  that  the  country  was 
overrun  with  spies  and  informers,  and  the  charge  of  heresy 
was  often  made  the  means  of  gratifying  private  revenge. 

Meanwhile  neither  Henry's  death  nor  the  assassination  of 
President  Minard  by  a  man  named  Stuart,f  had  any  power  to 
suspend  the  trial  of  Du  Bourg.  He  made  use  of  all  the  forms 
of  the  court  to  find  some  loop-hole  of  escape,  and  lodged  ap- 
peal after  appeal,  all  of  which  were  decided  against  him.  At 
length,  on  the  23d  of  December,  1559,  the  long  contest  was 
brought  to  an  end.  J  After  sentence  of  death  had  been  de- 
livered, he  said :  "  I  am  sent  to  the  stake,  because  I  will  not 
confess  that  justification,  grace,  and  sanctification  are  to  be 
found  elsewhere  than  in  Christ.  This  is  the  cause  of  my 
death,  that  I  have  embraced  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  Gospel. 
Extinguish  your  fires  and  return  unto  the  Lord  with  real  new- 
ness of  heart,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out.  Let  the 
wicked  man  forsake  his  way  and  turn  unto  the  Lord.  Think 
upon  these  things ;  I  am  going  to  my  death."  So  great  were 
the  apprehensions  of  the  court  of  an  attempt  at  rescue,  that 
the  streets  were  barricaded  and  lined  with  armed  men,  and 
nearly  600  soldiers  were  stationed  round  the  Greve,  the  Ty- 
burn of  those  days.  Du  Bourg  met  his  fate  like  a  Christian 
hero :  on  reaching  the  place  of  execution  he  said :  "  Six  feet  of 
earth  for  my  body,  and  the  boundless  heaven  for  my  soul,  are 
the  only  possession  I  shall  soon  have."  Then  turning  to  the 
spectators  he  said :  "  I  am  going  to  die,  not  because  I  am  a 
thief  and  a  murderer,  but  because  I  love  the  Gospel.  I  rejoice 
to  give  my  life  in  so  good  a  cause."  His  last  words  were : 

*  Regnicr  de  la  Planche,  p.  227. 

t  December  12th,  1559.  This  same  Stuart  claimed  Queen  Mary's  pro- 
tection ns  a  blood-relation.  He  made  the  constable  prisoner  at  Dreux, 
mortally  wounded  him  at  St.  Denis,  and  being  taken  at  Jarnac,  fighting 
on  the  Huguenot  side,  was  murdered  by  permission,  if  not  by  order,  ofllen- 
ry  of  Anjou.  Claude  Haton  has  a  story  that  he  was  hanged  at  Paris  in 
July,  15G9.  lie  was  in  the  Amboise  plot,  and  escaped  by  flight. 

t  Authors  differ  as  to  the  day  of  his  death  ;  the  dates  given  are  20th  No- 
vember ;  20th,  21st,  22d,  and  23d  December.  "Duodecimo  kal.  Janu- 
arii,"  says  Belcarius,  p.  921. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  75 

"  My  God,  my  God,  forsake  me  not,  lest  I  forsake  thee."  The 
executioner  then  adjusted  the  rope  round  his  neck,  uttered  the 
terrible  formula :  Messire  le  roi  vous  salue,  and  Anne  du 
Bourg  was  a  corpse.  His  lifeless  body  was  afterward  burned 
to  ashes.  The  royal  historiographer,  who  rarely  spares  a  her- 
etic, writes  amplifying  the  words  of  the  centurion  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross.  -"  His  execution  inspired  many  persons  with  the 
conviction  that  the  faith  possessed  by  so  good  a  man  could  not 
be  wrong."  *  Florimond  de  Remond,  the  historian  of  heresy, 
and  at  that  time  a  young  man,  was  an  eye-witness  of  Du 
Bourg's  death.  "We  burst  into  tears  (he  says)  in  our  col- 
leges on  returning  from  the  execution,  and  pleaded  his  cause 
after  his  decease,  cursing  those  unrighteous  judges,  who  had 
so  unjustly  condemned  him.  His  preaching  at  the  gallows 
did  more  evil  than  a  hundred  ministers  could  have  done."f 
Chandieu,  pastor  of  the  church  of  Paris,  shows  us  how  it  was 
that  these  executions  made  so  many  converts.  "  Most  people 
like  what  they  see  hated  with  such  extreme  hatred.  They 
think  themselves  fortunate  in  knowing  what  leads  others  to 
the  gibbet,  and  return  home  from  the  public  places  edified 
by  the  constancy  of  those  whom  they  have  themselves  reduced 
to  ashes."  J 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  sufferings  or  to  count 
up  the  number  of  the  victims.  Regnier  de  la  Planche  de- 
scribes from  personal  knowledge  the  lawless  state  of  the  capi- 
tal. "  From  August  to  March  there  was  nothing  but  arrests 
and  imprisonments,  sacking  of  houses,  proclamations  of  out- 
lawry, and  executions  of  the  members  of  the  religion  with 
cruel  torments."  §  Numbers  hastened  to  escape  from  Paris, 

*  Mezeray,  AbregS  Chron.  He  appeal's  to  bo  copying  Regnier  de  la 
Planche. 

f  Hist,  de  FHeresie,  p.  8G5. 

I  Hist,  dfs  Persec..  de  PJZglise  de  Paris,  p.  Ixiv. 

§  Hist.  Etat  de  France  sous  Francois  II.  (8vo.  1576).  This  work  is  gener- 
ally ascribed  to  La  Planche,  but  if  so,  he  would  hardly  sneer  at  himself  (p. 
404)  as  "  plus  poliriqne  quo  religieux."  It  wns  probably  written  by  Jean  de 
Serres,  author  of  the  Conunentaru  de  Slalu  Religioms. 


76  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

and  sold  their  goods  to  procure  the  means  of  flight.  The 
streets  were  filled  with  carts  laden  with  furniture,  the  houses 
were  abandoned  to  plunderers,  the  magistrates  conniving  at 
the  wrong,  so  that  "  the  poor  became  rich  and  the  rich  poor." 
We  need  not  point  out  what  an  incentive  this  was  to  denun- 
ciation, and  how  often  men  must  have  been  condemned  as  here- 
tics whose  only  fault  was  their  wealth,  or  their  having  offend- 
ed some  neighbor.  A  remarkable  passage  from  Theodore 
Beza  shows  how  wide  and  general  was  the  ruin  caused  by  this 
terrorism.  "  Poor  little  children  [the  children  of  martyred  Re- 
formers], who  had  no  bed  but  the  flag-stones,  went  crying  pit- 
eously  through  the  streets  with  hunger,  and  yet  no  one  dared 
relieve  them,  for  fear  they  should  be  accused  of  heresy.  So 
that  they  Avere  less  cared  -for  than  dogs."  The  pettiest  vexa- 
tions were  employed  against  the  Reformers.  Crosses  and 
images,  with  tapers  always  burning  before  them,  were  set  up 
at  the  corner  of  every  street,  and  round  them  gathered  a 
crowd  of  noisy  worshipers,  singing,  praying,  and  beating 
their  breasts.  If  any  one  refused  to  take  off  his  hat  as  he 
passed,  or  to  put  money  into  the  alms-box  before  the  shrine, 
some  dirty  priest  or  monk  would  raise  the  cry  of  "  heretic," 
and  the  poor  Reformer  would  be  pelted,  beaten,  and  perhaps 
dragged  through  the  mire  to  prison.  "  Death  was  made  a  car- 
nival," says  an  eloquent  Frenchman.  "  It  was  indeed  a  show 
in  which  the  mob — and  the  same  mob  reappeared  in  1792 — 
feasted  their  eyes  on  the  sufferings  of  the  Protestants,  and 
often  wrould  not  allow  them  to  be  strangled  before  they  were 
burned,  lest  their  agonies  should  be  diminished.  One  Barbe- 
ville  was  thus  tortured  contrary  to  the  sentence  condemning 
him  to  be  hanged  first ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  rescued  a 
thief  from  the  gallows, "  as  if  they  desired  to  condemn  Christ 
and  deliver  Barabbas."  To  call  a  man  "Lutheran"  was  to 
doom  him  to  certain  death,  often  too  without  any  form  of  jus- 
tice. By  this  lynch  law  many  a  man  worked  out  his  own 
private  revenge:  the  debtor  paid  his  creditor.*  Even  chil- 
*  "  Certains  garnements  n'avaient  plutot  crie :  Au  lutherien,  au  christau- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  77 

dren  dipped  their  hands  in  the  martyrs'  blood  and  boasted 
of  it. 

The  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis  had  left  a  number  of  soldiers 
of  every  rank  without  employment  and  without  resources. 
There  was  a  public  debt  of  forty-eight  million  livres,  the  in- 
terest of  which  was  paid  with  difficulty;  the  treasury  was 
empty,  and  there  were  no  ready  means  of  filling  it.  Perhaps 
the  persecution  of  the  heretics,  which  was  always  attended 
with  confiscation  of  property,  may  not  have  been  entirely  un- 
connected with  the  financial  difficulties  of  the  royal  household. 
But  there  certainly  was  no  money,  and  when  the  disbanded 
soldiers  applied  to  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  for  their  arrears 
of  pay,  he  not  only  threatened  to  hang  them,  but  erected  two 
gibbets  before  the  gate  of  the  palace  of  St.  Germains,  or,  as 
others  say,  of  Fontainebleau.  It  was  a  threat  as  unwise  as  it 
was  cruel,  and  nearly  cost  the  Guises  very  dear.  The  malcon- 
tent soldiery  joined  the  persecuted  Huguenots — each  party 
feeling  a  common  hatred  against  the  "  Lorrainers,"  and  re- 
solved to  get  rid  of  their  common  enemy.  It  has  been  assert- 
ed, but  without  any  solid  grounds,  that  Catherine  looked  fa- 
vorably on  this  coalition,  she  being  equally  desirous  of  freeing 
herself  from  both  duke  and  cardinal.  But,  whatever  she 
may  have  suspected,  she  certainly  knew  nothing  of  what  was 
actually  preparing.  In  these  humaner  and  more  civilized  days, 
obnoxious  ministers  and  administrators  are  got  rid  of  by  dis- 
missal, or  by  a  vote  in  Parliament :  in  ruder  times  they  were 
removed  by  revolt  or  assassination.  In  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  government  of  France  was  a  despotism 
moderated  by  the  dagger.  Even  within  a  month  of  the  death 
of  Henry  II.  a  union  of  the  malcontents  was  meditated,  the 
Reformed  only  holding  back  until  they  should  be  assured  of 
its  lawfulness.  They  consulted  Calvin,  who  declared  that  "  it 
would  be  better  they  should  all  perish  a  hundred  times  over 
rather  than  expose  the  name  of  Christianity  and  of  the  Gospel 

ilin — qu'ils  no  fusscnt  non  settlement  quittes  de  leurs  dcttes."    Kegnicr  do 
lit  Planche. 


78  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  the  disgrace  of  rebellion  and  bloodshed."  They  were  more 
successful  with  some  German  divines,  who  thought  "  they 
might  lawfully  oppose  the  usurpation  of  the  Guises,  even  with 
arms,  if  the  princes  of  the  blood,  their  lawful  magistrates  by 
birth,  or  even  one  of  them,  should  be  at  their  head." 

The  discontent  increased  and  grew  bolder  every  day.  "  We 
will  go  and  complain  to  the  king,"  said  the  oppressed  peasant- 
ry. As  early  as  the  15th  November,  1559,  Killigrew  wrote  to 
Queen  Elizabeth :  "  The  king  the  last  day  being  on  hunting, 
was  (for  what  cause  or  upon  what  occasion  we  know  not)  in 
such  fear,  as  he  was  forced  to  leave  his  pastime,  and  to  leave 
the  hounds  uncoupled,  and  return  to  the  court  [at  Blois]. 
Whereupon  there  was  commandment  given  to  the  Scottish 
guard  to  wear  jackets  of  mail  and  pistols."  *  And  writing 
again  at  the  end  of  the  year  (29th  December),  he  adds :  "  It  is 
evident  that  the  discontent  has  reached  a  point  when  some- 
thing desperate  may  be  expected."  The  Guises  knew  this, 
and  being  conscious  of  the  weak  foundation  on  which  their 
authority  rested,  and  fearing  an  insurrection,  they  forbade  the 
carrying  of  arms  and  the  wearing  of  any  kind  of  dress  favora- 
ble to  the  concealment  of  weapons,  f  At  that  time  the  ordina- 
ry cloak  had  no  sleeve,  and  reached  to  the  middle  of  the  calf 
of  the  leg,  and  the  large  trunk  hose  were  more  than  an  ell  and 
a  half  Avide.  This  injunction  seems  to  have  been  binding  only 
on  the  Protestants,  and  was  intended  to  prevent  them  from 
protecting  themselves.  That  they  sometimes  did  this  very 
effectually  is  proved  by  a  little  incident  recorded  by  Killi- 
grew. Seventeen  persons  had  been  arrested  at  Blois  "for 
the  Word's  sake,"  and  committed  to  the  sergeants  to  be 
taken  to  Orleans  for  trial ;  but  on  the  road  their  escort  was 
atetcked  by  sixty  men  on  horseback,  who  set  them  all  at 
liberty. 

Although  the  Ordinance  of  Chambord  (17th  December, 
1559),  by  facilitating  the  trial  of  heretics  and  condemning  to 

*  Forbes,  i.  p.  262.  t  Ibid,  p.  292. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  79 

death  all  who  sheltered  them,  seemed  intended  to  drive  the  Re- 
formed to  despair,  they  as  yet  entertained  no  serious  thoughts 
of  rebellion.  There  were  not  wanting  men  of  their  own 
class  who  preached  the  doctrine  of  resistance,*  yet  none  of 
the  higher  orders  came  forward  as  their  leaders.  Without 
such  champions  they  would  be  little  better  than  an  undisci- 
plined mob.  At  last,  however,  they  found  the  man  they 
wanted  in  Bary  de  la  Renaudie,  a  gentleman  of  a  good  fami- 
ly in  Perigord,  and  a  soldier  of  some  reputation — one  of  those 
daring  men  who  always  spring  up  in  troublous  times.  At 
one  period  attached  to  Francis  of  Guise,  who  had  helped  him 
to  escape  from  prison,  he  became  his  most  violent  enemy  in 
consequence  of  the  duke's  barbarous  cruelty  to  Gaspard  de 
Heu,  who  was  allied  to  him  by  marriage.!  Probably  it  was 
this  enmity  which  made  him  renounce  his  religion  and  join 
the  Reformers.  He  was  just  the  man  for  getting  up  a  con- 
spiracy, and  by  his  ability  and  address  soon  won  over  great 
numbers  in  Switzerland  as  well  as  in  France.  He  constantly 
asserted  that  Calvin  and  Coligny  approved  of  the  design,  and 
that  the  Prince  of  Conde  would  declare  himself  at  the  proper 
opportunity.  As  regards  the  two  former,  the  statement  is  in- 
correct; but  Conde  appears  to  have  played  an  undecided 
part,  "  letting  I  dare,  not  wait  upon  I  would" \  The  first 
meeting  of  the  conspirators  was  held  at  Nantes  in  February. 
It  was  a  remote  place,  and  as  the  Parliament  of  Brittany  was 
then  assembled,  their  numbers  would  not  be  noticed.  In  their 
articles  or  bond  of  agreement  they  swore  to  respect  the  per- 
son of  the  king,  but  never  to  lay  down  their  arms  until  they 
had  driven  the  Guises  from  power,  brought  them  to  trial  (if 

*The  Defense  centre  les  Tyrans  of  Hubert  Languet  treats  of  the  limits  of 
obedience  to  kings,  of  the  causes  which  justify  arming,  and  when  foreign 
aid  may  be  sought.  Davila  confesses  that  the  Protestants  were  forced  to 
measures  of  self-defense,  "  per  liberarsi  della  durezza  della  condizionc  pre- 
scnte." 

t  Barthold  :  Deulschland  vnd  die  Huyuenottcn,  i.  p.  262. 

J  The  "  mute  chief  "  was  certainly  Conde'.    Belcairc  calls  him  "  ducem 


80  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

not  worse),*  and  procured  the  suspension  of  every  edict,  both 
old  and  new,  against  the  Reformed,  pending  the  assembly  of 
the  States-General.  Their  plan  was  for  each  gentleman  or 
captain,  of  whom  there  were  twenty,  to  collect  a  body  of 
troops  in  his  own  district,  and  so  to  arrange  their  march  that 
they  should  all  arrive  at  Blois  at  the  same  time.  The  6th  of 
March  was  the  appointed  day,  afterward  changed  to  the  1 6th, 
when  they  hoped  to  find  the  Guises  unprotected.  It  was  an 
absurd  scheme,  and  could  hardly  fail  to  miscarry,  even  if  it 
had  not  been  frustrated  at  the  very  outset  by  a  circumstance 
which  seems  never  to  have  entered  into  the  minds  of  the  con- 
spirators. The  court  removed  from  the  open  town  of  Blois 
to  the  strong  castle  of  Amboise  on  the  Loire,  in  accordance 
with  arrangements  which  had  been  made  some  time  before.f 
That  old  royal  residence  had  been  forsaken  by  the  court 
since  the  death  of  Charles  VIII.  Its  massive  walls  still  tower 
boldly  on  the  heights  above  the  river,  and  the  cheerful  little 
town  clusters  at  their  feet,  as  if  for  protection.  The  Guises 
accompanied,  or  rather  followed,  the  king  in  perfect  security : 
they  did  not  so  much  as  know  that  La  Renaudie  was  in  the 
kingdom.  They  had  heard  rumors  of  plots,  and  warning  let- 
ters had  been  sent  them  from  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Sa- 
voy; but  nothing  reached  them  in  a  definite  form  until  some 
days  after  their  arrival  at  Amboise,  when  one  of  La  Renau- 
die's  friends  J  betrayed  him  to  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine.  "  The 

*  "At  si  viribus  supcriores  fnisscnt,  hand  iliibium  quin  utrumque  [of  the 
Guises]  immaniter  trucidavcrint,  quibus  Franciscum  Stuardumque  rcginam 
addidissent,  aut  saltern  hanc  ad  Elizabethan!  Angliae  reginam,  temulam  et 
ejus  conjwalionis  consciam,  (?)  nrisissent."  Belcarins  :  Rer.  Call.  Comment. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for  supposing  Elizabeth  knew  any  thing  of 
the  Amboise  plot. 

t  "  The  French  king  removeth  hence  toward  Amboise  the  5th  February." 
Killigrew  to  Queen,  28th  Jan.  15GO ;  Forbes,  i.  pp.  315,  320.  "  The  23d, 
the  French  king  arrived,  which  was  two  days  sooner  than  he  was  looked 
for."  Forbes,  i.  p.  334. 

t  Of  this  DCS  Avenelles  there  arc  very  contradictory  accounts.  lie  was 
rewarded  with  a  judicial  appointment  in  Lorraine,  and  DC  Thou  adds  that 
he  remained  a  Protestant  until  death. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  81 

duke  and  the  cardinal  have  discovered  a  conspiracy  against 
themselves,  which  they  have  bruited  (to  make  the  matter  more 
odious)  to  be  meant  only  against  the  king ;  whereupon  they 
are  in  such  fear  as  themselves  do  wear  privy-coats  [of  mail], 
and  are  in  the  night  guarded  with  pistoliers  and  men  in  arms. 

.  .  .  On  the  6th  they  watched  all  night  long  in  the  court, 
and  the  gates  of  the  town  were  kept  shut."  *  The  cardinal 
was  indeed  thoroughly  frightened ;  but  the  duke,  acting  with 
great  promptitude,  strengthened  the  garrison  by  troops  hasti- 
ly drawn  together  from  every  quarter.  Still  the  Guises  were 
by  no  means  free  from  apprehension,  and  Throckmorton  de- 
scribes the  condition  of  the  little  town  in  the  middle  of  March : 
"  The  1 7th,  in  the  morning,  about  four  of  the  clock,  there  ar- 
rived a  company  of  150  horsemen  well  appointed,  who  ap- 
proached the  court  gates  and  shot  off  their  pistolets  at  the 
church  of  the  Bonhommes.  Whereupon  there  was  such  an 
alarm  and  running  up  and  down  in  the  court,  as  if  the  enemies 
being  encamped  about  them  had  sought  to  make  an  entry  into 
the  castle ;  and  there  W'as  crying  '  To  horse  !  to  horse  !'  and  a 
watch-word  given  by  shooting  a  harquebus  that  all  men  should 
be  in  readiness,  and  the  drum  was  striking.  And  this  contin- 
ued an  hour  and  a  half."  Sixty  gentlemen  had  bound  them- 
selves by  a  solemn  oath  to  penetrate  into  Amboise  during  the 
night,  thirty  of  whom  were  to  slip  into  the  castle,  and  open 
one  of  the  gates  to  the  other  conspirators.  But  the  duke  was 
on  the  watch,  and  had  that  gate  wralled  up.  Detachments  of 
troops  were  stationed  on  the  roads  leading  to  the  town  and 
along  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  by  which  the  various  bands, 
coming  lap  and  ignorant  of  what  had  happened,  were  captured 
or  cut  to  pieces.  In  one  of  these  encounters  La  Renaudie 
was  killed ;  his  body  was  quartered  and  exposed  at  the  four 
corners  of  the  bridge. 

The  Duke  of  Guise,  who,  so  long  as  there  appeared  to  be 
any  danger,  had  treated  his  prisoners  with  no  undue  severity, 

*  Throckmorton  to  Cecil,  7th  March  ;  Forbes,  i.  353. 

F 


82  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

soon  felt  himself  strong  enough  to  wreak  a  ferocious  vengeance 
on  his  enemies.  He  and  his  brother  the  cardinal,  in  the  intox- 
ication of  their  triumph,  indulged  in  excesses  of  murder  that 
can  hardly  find  a  parallel  except  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew, or  the  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution.  The 
streets  of  Amboise  ran  with  blood ;  and  when  the  public  ex- 
ecutioners were  wearied  with  decapitating  so  many  victims, 
the  remainder  Avere  bound  hand  and  foot  and  thrown  into  the 
river,  thus  anticipating  the  frightful  Noyades  of  1793.* 
Throckmorton  writes:  "This  heat  caused  upon  a  sudden  a 
sharp  determination  to  minister  justice.  The  two  men  taken 
were  the  same  forenoon  hanged,  and  two  others  for  company ; 
and  afterward  the  same  day  divers  were  taken,  and  in  the 
evening  nine  more  were  hanged :  all  which  died  very  assured- 
ly and  constantly  for  religion,  in  singing  of  psalrns.  Divers 
Avere  drowned  in  sacks,  and  some  appointed  to  die  iipon  the 
wheel The  17th  there  were  twenty-two  of  these  reb- 
els drowned  in  sacks,  and  the  18th  at  night  twenty-five  more. 
Among  all  these  which  be  taken  there  be  eighteen  of  the 
bravest  captains  of  France."  Twelve  hundred  persons  are 
computed  to  have  perished  in  this  massacre.  The  Baron  of 
Castelnau-Chalosse,  and  Bricquemaut,  Count  of  Villemangis,  a 
Genevese  refugee,  had  with  others  surrendered  to  the  Duke  of 
Nemours  on  condition  that  their  lives  should  be  spared ;  but 
the  Guises  were  not  the  men  to  be  bound  by  such  a  condition, 
when  even  Olivier  the  chancellor,  not  altogether  a  bad  man, 
declared  that  "  a  prince  was  not  required  to  keep  his  word  to 
a  rebel  subject."  The  Duke  of  Nemours  had  given  a  written 
pledge  of  safety,  which,  says  Vieilleville,  "  vexed  him  greatly, 
who  was  concerned  only  about  his  signature ;  for  if  it  had 
been  his  mere  word,  he  would  have  been  able  to  give  the  lie 

*  "  II  s'cn  trouvait  en  la  riviere  tantot  G,  8,  10,  12,  1">  attache's  a  des- 
perehes.  .  .  .  Les  rues  d'Amboise  c'taient  coulantes  de  sanp,  et  tapisse'es 
de  corps  mortS,  si  qu'on  nepouvait  durer  par  la  ville  pour  la  puanteur  et  in- 
fection." Regnier  de  la  Planchc,  p.  257  ;  Montfat^on  :  Monuments  de  la 
Xhnarchie  Fr.  v.  p.  81  ;  Forbes,  i.  378. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  83 

at  any  time  to  any  one  who  might  reproach  him  with  it,  and 
that  Avithout  any  exception,  for  the  prince  was  brave  and  gen- 
erous." Pretty  morality  for  a  gentleman !  When  Castelnau 
was  under  examination  he  hesitated  in  some  of  his  answers, 
upon  which  the  Duke  of  Guise  bade  him  "  Speak  out ;  one 
would  think  you  are  afraid."  "Afraid!"  retorted  the  bar- 
on, "  and  where  is  the  man  so  confident  as  not  to  be  afraid, 
on  seeing  himself  encompassed  by  mortal  enemies  as  I  am, 
when  he  has  neither  teeth  nor  nails  with  which  to  defend  him- 
self? In  my  place  you  would  be  afraid  too."  On  being  con- 
demned for  high  treason  he  remonstrated  against  the  charge, 
not  against  the  sentence,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  undertaken 
nothing  against  the  king;  that  he  had  merely  leagued'with.  a 
large  portion  of  the  nobility  against  the  Guises,  and  that 
"  these  must  be  made  kings  before  he  could  be  guilty  of  leze- 
majeste." 

Castelnau,  like  Coligny,  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  had  employed  the  long  hours  of  his  enforced 
inactivity  in -reading  the  Bible.  If  it  did  not  make  him  a 
Protestant,  it  shook  his  faith  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  the 
course  of  his  examination  at  Amboise,  Chancellor  Olivier 
taunted  him  with  his  "Puritanism."  Castelnau  retorted: 
"  When  I  saw  you  on  my  return'  from  Flanders,  I  told  you 
how  I  had  spent  my  time,  and  you  approved  of  it.  We  Avere 
then  friends ;  why  are  we  not  so  now  ?  Is  it  possible  that  you 
spoke  with  sincerity  when  you  were  not  in  favor  at  court,  and 
that  now,  in  order  to  please  a  man  you  despise,  you  are  a  trai- 
tor to  God  and  your  conscience  ?"  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
answered  for  the  chancellor,  upon  which  Castelnau  appealed  to 
Guise,  who  replied  that  he  knew  nothing  about  theology. 
"  Would  to  Heaven  you  did,"  said  the  baron ;  "  for  I  esteem 
you  well  enough  to  think  that  if  you  were  as  enlightened  as 
your  brother  the  cardinal,  you  would  follow  better  things." 
A  noble  testimony  to  the  character  of  the  duke,  who  some- 
what churlishly  rejoined  that  he  understood  nothing  but  cut- 
ting off  heads.  Coligny  and  D'Andelot,  as  well  as  Francis  II. 


84  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

and  Mary,  entreated  the  duke  and  the  cardinal  to  spare  Cas- 
telnau's  life ;  but  the  latter  answered  with  a  blasphemous 
oath :  "  He  shall  die,  and  no  man  in  France  shall  save  him." 
The  baron  died  appealing  to  God,  who  would  ere  long  visit 
them  with  signal  vengeance  for  the  innocent  blood  they  were 
shedding.  When  Villemangis  ascended  the  scaffold,  he  dipped 
his  hands  in  the  blood  of  his  comrades  who  had  been  executed 
before  him,  and  raising  them  toward  heaven  exclaimed :  "  Oh 
Lord !  behold  the  blood  of  thy  children  so  unjustly  shed ; 
thou  wilt  avenge  it." 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  was  the  chief  instigator  of  these 
murders :  in  his  excessive  cowardice  he  could  not  think  him- 
self safe  unless  all  his  enemies  were  killed.  They  threatened 
to  Stuart  him — that  is,  to  shoot  him  with  a  poisoned  bullet, 
as  James  Stuart  had.shot  President  Minard ;  and  one  morning 
he  found  the  f ollowing  quatrain  in  his  oratory : 

Garde-toi,  Cardinal, 
Quo  tu  ne  sois  traite 

A  la  Minardc 

D'une  stuarde.* 

Imagining  every  one  must  be  as  fond  of  blood  as  himself, 
he  used  to  conduct  the  young  king  and  queen  to  the  ramparts, 
or  to  the  windows,  to  witness  the  executions,!  pointing  out  the 
most  illustrious  of  the  victims  and  mocking  at  their  agony. 
As  they  died  almost  all  of  them  with  firmness  and  serenity,  he 
bade  Francis  II.  "  look  at  those  insolent  men,  whom  even  death 
can  not  subdue.  What  would  they  not  do  with  you,  if  they 
were  your  masters  ?"  One  afternoon,  for  these  executions  usual- 
ly took  place  after  dinner,  for  the  amusement  of  the  court,  the 
Duchess  of  Guise  was  present,  but  she  could  not  endure  the 
ghastly  spectacle.  She  nearly  fainted  away,  and  entering  all 
pale  and  trembling  into  the  queen-mother's  closet,  she  exclaim- 

*  This  poisoned  ball,  says  Brantome,  was  of  mixed  metal,  so  hard  that  no 
armor  could  resist  it. 

t  See  a  plate  in  De  Leone  Belg.,  representing  the  execution  of  Ville- 
mangis. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  85 

ed :  "  Oh,  madame,  what  horrors-!  I  fear  that  a  curse  will 
come  upon  our  house,  and  the  innocent  blood  rest  upon  our 
heads !" 

The  Duke  of  Longueville,  who  had  been  invited  to  Amboise, 
stayed  away  under  pretext  of  illness,  but  sent  one  of  his  gen- 
tlemen to  make  his  excuses.  Guise  was  at  table  when  the 
messenger  arrived,  and  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to 
strike  terror  into  the  duke  and  all  who  opposed  the  Lorraine 
faction.  "  Tell  your  master  I  am  very  well,"  he  said,  "  and  re- 
port to  him  the  viands  in  which  I  indulge."  At  the  word  a 
tall,  fine-looking  man  was  brought  in,  a  rope  was  immediate- 
ly put  round  his  neck,  and  he  was  hanged  to  a  bar  of  the  win- 
dow before  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  gentleman.* 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  temporary  success  procured 
by  this  ferocious  victory,  it  disappointed  the  expectations  of 
the  Guises.f  The  moral  world  is  so  constituted  that  crime 
sooner  or  later  works  out  its  own  punishment.  "  The  butch- 
ers," as  the  two  Lorraine  brothers  were  called,  had  converted 
their  victims  into  martyrs,  and  all  over  France  a  feeling  of  re- 
sistance began  to  spring  up  that  could  not  fail  ere  long  to 
have  a  violent  termination.  Most  of  those  who  suffered  at 
Amboise  were  of  the  Reformed  religion;  but  there  wTere 
others  of  the  old  faith  who  joined  the  conspiracy  out  of  dis- 
like to  the  duke  and  the  cardinal,  and  who  now  began  to 
think  that  no  hope  remained  except  in  their  swords.  In  the 
market-place  of  Amboise,  where  most  of  the  victims  had  been 
put  to  death,  Theodore  Agrippa  d'Aubigne  was  sworn,  like 


*  Tlirockmorton,  writing  to  the  Lords  of  the  Council  on  the  21st  March, 
speaks  of  the  general  pardon  offered  the  insurgents  if  they  should  disperse 
quietly,  and  goes  on  to  say:    "Although  things  be  thus  calmed,  yet  the 
Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  live  still  in  marvelous  great 
fear,  and  know  not  whom  they  may  well  trust."     Forbes,  i. 
LDS  nous  estions  du  temps  que  la  fureur  francoisc 
Commen9a  nos  malheurs  au  tumulte  d'Amboise, 
Nous  en  avons  1'horreur  encor  peinte  en  nos  creurs, 
Malheurcuse  aux  vaincus,  dommageable  aux  vainqneurs. 

Jean  Vauquelin  de  la  Presnaye  :  Les  Foresteries. 


86  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

young  Hannibal,  to  avenge  the  cause  of  his  party.  The  elder 
D'Aubigne  was  taking  the  boy  to  Paris,  and  passing  through 
Amboisc  one  fair-time,  he  saw  the  ghastly  heads  of  the  con- 
spirators still  grinning  horribly  on  the  walls  and  gates. 
Moved  with  indignation,  he  spurred  his  horse  into  the  midst 
of  the  assembled  crowd,  exclaiming :  "  The  murderers !  they 
have  beheaded  France."  Being  recognized  as  a  Calvinist,  he 
had  to  ride  for  his  life,  and  when  he  was  out  of  danger  he 
touched  his  son's  right  hand :  "  My  boy,"  he  said,  "  do  not 
spare  your  head  to  avenge  the  heads  of  those  honorable  gen- 
tlemen. If  you  do,  your  father's  curse  be  upon  you."  Young 
Theodore  never  forgot  this  lesson,  and  his  life  was  one  long 

O  7  O 

heroic,  if  not  always  wise,  devotion  to  the  Reformed  cause. 

During  the  first  terror  inspired  by  the  news  of  the  con- 
spiracy, an  attempt  had  been  made  to  secure  the  neutrality  of 
the  Reformed  by  issuing  a  proclamation  to  the  effect,  that  "  all 
persons  (saving  such  as  be  preachers)  detained  in  prison  on 
account  of  their  religion,  should  be  immediately  released  "- 
on  condition,  however,  that  they  lived  as  good  Catholics  like 
the  rest  of  the  people.  This  act  of  grace  was  issued  (15th 
March)  by  the  advice  of  Coligny,  who  having  been  hastily 
summoned  to  Amboise  (partly  to  try  how  far  he  was  cogni- 
zant of  the  plot),  told  the  queen-mother  plainly  in  a  private 
audience  that  "  the  Huguenots  had  so  increased  in  number 
and  were  so  exasperated  that  they  could  not  be  induced  to  re- 
turn to  their  duty,  unless  the  persecutions  and  violent  meas- 
ures of  the  administration  were  suspended."  Chancellor 
Olivier  was  of  the  same  opinion.  "  It  is  better  to  use  mild 
measures  than  strong  ones,"  he  said.  At  the  same  time  in- 
structions were  sent  to  the  Parliaments  to  make  secret  protests 
while  registering  the  edict,  so  as  to  render  it  nugatory.  Six 
days  after  it  was  issued,  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  named  lieu- 
tenant-general (17th.  March,  1560).  The  pope  sent  a  special 
envoy  to  France  complaining  of  the  amnesty,  and  to  point  out 
that  "  the  true  remedy  for  the  disorders  of  the  kingdom  was 
to  proceed  judicially  against  the  heretics,  and  if  their  number 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  87 

was  too  great,  the  king  should  employ  the  sword  to  bring  his 
subjects  back  to  their  duty."  He  offered  to  assist  in  so  good 
a  work  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  and  to  procure  the  support 
of  the  King  of  Spain  and  the  princes  of  Italy. 

It  was  not  Catherine's  policy  to  crush  the  Huguenots  en- 
tirely, and  she  appears  to  have  taken  some  pains  to  conciliate 
them.  In  this  tumult  of  Amboise  (which  could  hardly  have 
been  displeasing  to  her,  considering  her  antagonism  to  the 
Guises)  she  saw  her  opportunity,  and  sent  for  Regnier  de  la 
Planche,  that  she  might  learn  his  opinion  as  to  the  state  of  af- 
fairs. Regnier,  who  was  a  man  of  great  political  experience 
and  moderation,  told  her  frankly  that  the  religious  persecu- 
tions "had  armed  many  of  the  Huguenots,  while  the  favor  shown 
to  the  Guises  had  increased  the  number  of  the  discontented. 
He  also  argued  that  a  national  council  was  the  only  means  for 
settling  the  religious  differences.  The  advice  was  not  very 
well  received,  and  La  Plauche  nearly  suffered  for  his  plain- 
speaking.  Coligny,  who  had  left  Amboise  to  try  and  pacify 
Normandy,  then  almost  in  open  rebellion,  wrote  to  the  same 
effect  to  the  queen-mother,  advising  also  the  assembling  of  the 
States-General. 

No  sooner  was  the  panic  over  and  the  Guises  once  more  felt 
secure,  than  the  religious  persecutions  were  renewed  with  all 
their  former  severity.  The  old  edicts  against  the  Christau- 
dins  or  Sacramentarians  were  revived,  and  commissions  were 
appointed  to  receive  secret  evidence.  To  make  the  persecu- 
tion more  effectual,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  tried  once  more 
to  introduce  all  the  forms  of  the  Inquisition  without  the  name, 
and  obtained  a  resolution  of  the  royal  council  entrusting  the 
entire  cognizance  of  heresy  to  the  prelates  of  the  Church,  and 
ordering  that  their  sentence  should  be  final,  the  heretics  being 
handed  over  to  the  secular  arm  for  punishment.  L'Hopital, 
the  new  chancellor,  resisted  the  encroachment  on  the  broad 
grounds  that  the  right  of  trial  and  punishment  of  all  offenses 
— whether  against  person,  property,  or  religion  (except  in 
the  case  of  ecclesiastics) — lay  with  the  king ;  that  the  right  of 


88  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

appeal  to  the  royal  tribunals  could  not  be  taken  away;  and 
that  the  judgment  on  those  appeals  should  be  delivered  by  lay 
judges.  lie  succeeded  thus  far  in  establishing  the  axiom, 
that  "  no  power  in  the  state  possessed  sovereign  authority  of 
life  or  death  over  the  subjects  of  such  state,  except  the  king." 
But  he  was  compelled  to  yield  in  other  points,  and  being  of 
opinion  that  it  is  politic  to  permit  a  small  mischief  to  escape 
a  greater,  he  gave  an  unwilling  consent  to  the  edict  of  Romo- 
rantin  (May,  1560),  which  declared  that  the  cognizance  of  here- 
sy should  remain  with  the  bishops,  who  were  to  proceed  in  the 
usual  manner.  This  was  a  great  sacrifice  to  intolerance,  but 
it  really  gave  the  bishops  no  new  power.  Other  clauses  de- 
clared all  persons  attending  conventicles  guilty  of  high  trea- 
son, and  assigned  a  reward  of  500  crowns  to  informers ;  to 
which  the  singular  provision  was  appended,  that  all  calum- 
nious informers  should  be  subjected  to  ihepeine  du  talion,  in 
other  words,  suffer  the  punishment  to  which  their  victims  were 
liable.  To  a  certain  extent  this  edict  recognized  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Reformers  by  ordering  the  bishops  to  reside  in 
their  dioceses,  and  the  parish  priests  to  tend  their  flocks  more 
carefully,  teach  them  properly,  and  live  among  them.  The 
new  chancellor  might  well  be  proud  of  his  work,  the  first  hesi- 
tating step  in  the  path  of  toleration.  The  Parliament  of  Paris 
refused  to  register  the  decree  on  the  ground  that  it  encroached 
on  the  civil  power,  and  L'Hopital  had  to  struggle  for  ten  days 
before  he  could  overcome  their  resistance.  The  fear  of  a  rep- 
etition of  the  "  tumult  of  Amboisc "  had  frightened  the  Car- 
dinal of  Lorraine  into  accepting  the  edict ;  but  his  brother 
Francis  bluntly  declared  he  would  never  draw  the  s-word  in 
its  defense.  This  was  quite  in  his  style,  for  he  hated  the  Re- 
formed not  only  because  they  were  rebels  against  the  Church, 
but  because  they  were  attached  to  the  Bourbon  princes.  Na- 
varre, indeed,  was  not  very  formidable,  it  being  always  possi- 
ble to  hold  him  in  check  by  playing  upon  his  selfishness ;  but 
his  brother,  the  Prince  of  Conde,  Avas  a  high-spirited,  clever, 
resolute  man,  one  to  be  kept  down  by  all  means. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  89 

In  reading  the  history  of  this  period  it  must  be  constantly 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  religious  malcontents  were  often  po- 
litical malcontents  also,*  their  numtter  being  increased  by  all 
who  hated  the  monopoly  of  power  so  tenaciously  held  by  the 
Guises.  The  small  gentry,  who  in  a  spirit  of  opposition  had 
accepted  the  Reformed  doctrines,  brought  a  new  and  fatal 
element  into  the  movement.  Despising  Calvin's  advice  to 
bear  injuries,  and  that  opposition  to  lawful  authority  is  a 
crime,  they  were  secretly  preparing  the  means  of  resistance, 
which  their  ecclesiastical  organization  greatly  facilitated.  The 
impetuous  gentlemen  and  soldiers  returned  insult  for  insult, 
and  blow  for  blow.  Thus  day  by  day  the  political  character 
of  the  Huguenots  f  (as  the  Reformers  were  called  after  the  af- 
fair of  Amboise)  became  more  prominent.  It  was  a  deplora- 
ble but  almost  inevitable  result  of  the  combination  against  the 
house  of  Lorraine,  and  it  proved  the  temporary  destruction  of 
French  Protestantism.  Ere  long  France  was  divided  into  two 
hostile  camps ;  and  although  this  will  not  excuse  the  harshness 
with  which  the  Huguenots  were  treated,  it  will  in.  some  measure 
account  for  it.  The  Romish  party  were  contending  not  only 
for  religion  but  for  supremacy,  for  place,  for  authority.  Who 
should  govern  the  king  and  the  state  was  a  question  now  quite 
as  important  as  which  faith  was  right,  that  of  Geneva  or  of 
Rome  ?  The  age  was  one  of  great  superstition  and  ignorance, 
and  the  foulest  rumors  were  circulated  against  the  Protest- 
ants, and  greedily  swallowed.  Claude  Haton,  who  has  left  us 
a  striking  and  truthful  picture  of  his  time,  supplies  us  with  a 
curious  illustration  of  the  popular  faith  touching* the  Hugue- 

*  Tai Handier:  Xouv.  RecJierchcs  sur  de  THopital,  p.  273  (Paris,  18G1). 
'•  Lcs  Huynenvts  de  religion,  pour  ne  pouvoir  supporter  plus  la  rigucur  et  crn- 
aute'  exerce'csa  1'encontre  d'eux  ;  et  les  Huguenots  d'etat,  pour  ne  plus  corn- 
porter  I'nsnrpatioa  faite  par  lesdits  de  Guise."  Commentaires,  p.  G3.  This 
is  what  Regnicr  dc  la  Plancho  told  the  queen-mother. 

t  There  has  been  much  dispute  about  the  origin  of  this  word,  but  it  prob- 
ably came  from  Geneva,  where  the  citizens  had  long  been  divided  into  two 
politico-religions  parties,  known  as  the  Mamelukes  and  Huguenots.  Merle 
d'Aubigne' :  Reformation  in  Time  of  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  118. 


90  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

nots.  He  says  that  mad  dogs  had  decreased  so  much  during 
the  last  two  years  that  people  believed  the  devils  had  left  the 
dogs  and  entered  into  the  Reformers.*  The  Catholics  were 
by  no  means  scrupulous  as  to  the  weapons  they  employed  to 
exasperate  the  fierce  passions  of  the  lower  classes.  There 
were  few  who  could  read  the  pamphlets,  ballads,  or  broadsides 
which  the  printers  poured  forth  with  astonishing  profusion ; 
but  all  could  understand  the  rude  wood-cuts  in  which  the  Hu- 
guenots were  represented  as  nailing  iron  shoes  on  the  bare  feet 
of  a  pious  hermit,  or  making  a  target  of  a  priest  nailed  to  a 
cross.  The  pulpit  was  turned  into  an  arena  for  abuse,  whence 
the  monks,  who  were  far  more  inveterate  against  the  Reform- 
ers than  the  secular  clergy,  inveighed  with  all  the  power  of 
their  lungs,  and  the  copiousness  of  their  abusive  vocabulary, 
against  the  new  doctrines  and  its  professors.  The  Huguenots 
and  their  allies  were  not  slow  to  retaliate,  and  in  fierce  invec- 
tive were  by  no  means  inferior  to  their  persecutors.  The  most 
notorious  of  their  satires,  or  "  libels,"  was  that  known  as  The 
Tiger,\  written  against  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,-and  for  sell- 
ing which  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business,  a  poor  Parisian 
book-seller  J  was  arrested  in  June,  1560,  tortured  to  make  him 
give  up  the  name  of  the  author,  which  probably  he  did  not 
know,  and  then  hanged.  An  unfortunate  spectator,  a  mer- 
chant of  Rouen,  who  had  manifested  some  compassion  for  the 
fate  of  poor  Martin  Lhomme,  was  arrested  and  executed  four 
days  after  as  an  accomplice.  § 

It  was  a  time  of  almost  universal  lawlessness.  "Every 
day,"  wTrites,Throckmorton  to  Cecil, "  there  are  advertisements 
of  new  stirs."||  There  was  no  public  protection,  no  law  en- 

*  Claude  repeats  nil  the  popular  scandals  against  the  Protestants,  but  he 
speaks  generally,  refraining  from  charging  with  such  infamies  those  of  his 
own  town  (Provins),  whom  he  knew  from  personal  observation. 

t  See  note  at  end  of  chapter. 

J  "Panperculus  librarius."     DeThou. 

§  Kcgnicr  do  la  Planche  :  De  tEstat  de  France,  pp.  312,  313  (Coll.  du 
Pantheon). 

||  Wright's  Elizabeth,  i.  p.  33. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  91 

forced ;  every  man  had  to  protect  himself  as  best  he  could. 
In  Paris,  the  insecurity  of  life  and  property  was  notorious. 
The  Catholics  armed  themselves  against  the  Huguenots,  and 
these  in  their  turn  procured  arms  in  self-defense.  Even  priests 
and  monks  shouldered  the  spear  and  arquebuse,  and  became 
captains  of  companies.  And  when  the  war  did  really  break 
out,  such  victors  would  not  be  very  merciful,  especially  when 
the  vanquished  had  imported  a  new  element  into  the  strife  by 
defiling  the  churches,  destroying  the  images,  and  ridiculing 
the  ceremonies.  There  were  many  Huguenots  who  disgraced 
the  name  they  assumed ;  but  had  they  all  been  pious,  the  tri- 
umphant Romanist  would  not  have  spared  them.  The  cause 
of  pure  religion  suffered  much  from  the  violence  of  these  hot- 
headed partisans.  At  Rheims  the  "  Lutherans  "  ate  meat  pub- 
licly in  Lent,  broke  the  lanterns  before  the  image  of  the  Vir- 
gin over  the  great  door  of  the  cathedral,  and  prowled  about 
at  night  defacing  the  crosses  and  pictures.  One  Gillet,  a  law- 
yer, drove  a  priest  from  a  chapel,  seized  the  alms  in  the  poor- 
box,  and  gave  the  sacerdotal  robes  to  his  wife,  who  made  caps 
and  other  articles  of  feminine  attire  out  of  them.  At  Rouen, 
when  a  Catholic  priest  spoke  of  purgatory,  in  his  sermon,  the 
Huguenots  called  him  "  a  fool,"  and  the  children  who  had 
been  trained  for  the  purpose,  imitated  the  amorous  noises  of 
cats.  The  Reformed  doctrine  was  introduced  into  Brittany 
in  1558  by  Andelot.  At  Croisic  the  "new  apostles"  were  so 
bold  as  to  preach  in  the  principal  church,  Notre  Dame  de 
Pitie,  of  which  the  people  and  clergy  complained  as  soon  as 
Andelot's  back  was  turned.  The  bishop  of  the  diocese 
marched  in  solemn  procession  through  the  streets,  after  which 
the  clergy  attacked  with  a  large  culverine  a  house  in  which 
the  preachers  had  taken  refuge.  The  inmates,  nineteen  in 
number,  escaped  during  the  night,  and  the  prelate  was  very 
properly  condemned  by  the  government,  "  such  violent  prac- 
tices being  unusual  in  the  kingdom,"  which  certainly  was  not 
a  correct  statement. 

It  was  supposed  that  a  general  council  by  restoring  unity 


92  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  the  Church  would  cure  many  of  the  evils  under  which 
France  suffered.  The  queen-mother  supported  this  opinion, 
and  we  may  imagine  we  hear  her  speaking  in  a  letter  written 
by  Francis  II.  to  the  Bishop  of  Limoges:  "The,  Church  of 
God,"  he  says,  "  will  never  enjoy  peace  or  rest,  never  shall  wTe 
see  the  end  of  the  troubles  and  calamities  which  this  religious 
division  is  bringing  over  all  the  Christian  world,  unless  a  gen- 
eral council  be  convened.  ...  It  is  notorious  that  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  has  not  been  received  or  approved  by  Germany 
or  by  the  Protestants,  who  have  attacked  its  authority,  as 
having  been  held  without  them.  .  .  .  We  Christian  princes 
ought  to  try  by  all  means  to  invite  the  Protestants  and  Ger- 
mans to  the  council,  ...  it  being  my  opinion  that  it  had  bet- 
ter not  open  at  all,  if  the  Germans  and  Protestants  are  not  in- 
vited, for  it  would  be  labor  in  vain."  •  Such  was  the  tone  in 
which  the  king  wrote  to  the  pope,  and  such  were  the  senti- 
ments he  desired  Limoges  to  lay  before  the  King  of  Spain. 
He  even  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  to  hold  a  national  council, 
if  the  pope  were  obstinate.  "  It  is  undeniable,"  he  said,  "  that 
there  are  so  many  abuses  in  the  manners  of  churchmen,  that 
there  are  but  few  of  them  who  do  their  duty.  Now  this  neg- 
lect breeds  that  contempt  for  divine  things,  by  which  men 
are  led  to  forsake  God  and  fall  into  those  errors  wherein  we 
now  see  them."  In  a  similar  strain  he  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rennes,  his  embassador  at  the  imperial  court.* 

In  a  somewhat  similar  tone  wrote  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
to  the  same  bishop,  urging  the  necessity  of  a  council,  and 
blaming  the  coldness  of  the  pope.  He  complains  of  the  "  piti- 
ful condition  into  which  religion  had  fallen,"  and  declares  a 
council  to  be  "  the  only  remedy  for  all  our  ills."  In  nearly 
the  same  words  writes  Florimond  de  Robertet,  secretary  of 
state,  adding  that  the  king  was  resolved  at  all  events  "  to  con- 
voke an  assembly  of  notables." 

These  opinions  compared  with  the  instructions  given  to  the 
French  prelates  at  the  Council  of  Trent  may  be  taken  as  evi- 
*  Aubeajnne  Correspondence,  pp.  431,  433,  434,  442,  501. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  93 

dence  that  the  court  was  sincere  in  its  desire  to  purify  the 
national  church.  Those  ecclesiastics  were  to  demand  that  the 
ceremonial  should  be  corrected  and  all  other  things  whereby 
the  ignorant  might  be  abused  under  a  show  of  piety ;  that  the 
cup  should  be  restored  to  the  laity ;  that  the  sacraments  should 
be  administered  in  the  vulgar  tongue;  that  during  mass  the 
Word  of  God  should  be  read  and  interpreted,  and  the  young 
people  should  be  catechised,  to  the  end  that  ah1  might  be  in- 
structed in  what  they  should  believe,  and  how  they  should  live 
so  as  to  please  God;  that  prayers  should  be  offered  up  in 
French,  and  that  certain  times  should  be  appointed,  as  well  at 
high  mass  as  at  vespers,  wherein  it  might  be  lawful  to  sing 
psalms  in  the  church.  The  prelates  were  also  instructed  to 
complain  of  the  unchaste  lives  of  the  clergy.* 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  therefore,  that  in  the  summer  of 
1560  France  was  on  the  brink  of  a  great  religious  change,  per- 
haps of  a  national  reformation.  Catherine  de  Medicis  inclined 
toward  it,  not  that  she  cared  much  about  creeds,  but  because 
it  seemed  an  admirable  political  weapon  ready  to  her  hand. 
The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  did  not  oppose  it,  probably  hoping 
to  increase  his  wealth  by  the  plunder  of  the  Church,  #f ter  the 
English  example.  All  moderate-minded  people  wished  for  a 
reformation  that  did  not  involve  separation  from  Rome. 
Even  the  violent  Gaspard  de  Saulx-Tavannes  listened  for  once 
to  the  voice  of  common  sense :  "  Mass  ought  not  to  be  said  in 
French,  no  change  or  reform  should  be  introduced  into  the 
ceremonies  without  the  approval  of  a  general  council.  Never- 
theless, I  must  confess  (he  added)  that  the  people  would  be 
much  more  stirred  up  to  devotion,  if  they  heard  in  their  own 
tongue  the  chants  of  the  priests  and  the  psalms  that  are  sung 
in  church." 

While  these  conciliatory  measures  were  under  discussion  in 
the  royal  council-chamber,  the  difference  between  the  two 

*  The  instructions  were  signed  by  the  Kinjj  and  Catherine,  Guise,  Mont- 
morency,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  L'Hopitnl,  and  Charles  of  Bonrbon.  Sec 
LePlat,  v.'p.  5G1. 


94  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

creeds  was  growing  wider.  The  Reformers  had  increased  so 
greatly  in  many  of  the  large  towns,  particulai'ly  in  the  south 
and  west  (as  we  shall  presently  see),  that  in  defiance  of  the 
edicts  they  gave  up  their  secret  meetings  in  woods  and  barns, 
and  worshiped  in  public.  The  king  wrote  to  Tavannes  re- 
specting the  troubles  in  Dauphiny,  ordering  him  to  collect 
troops  and  "  cut  the  religious  rebels  in  pieces.  .  .  .  There  is 
nothing  I  desire  more  than  to  exterminate  them  utterly,  and  so 
tear  them  up  by  the  roots  that  no  fresh  ones  may  arise.  .  .  . 
Chastise  them  without  mercy."  *  Six  months  later  (Oct.,  1 560) 
the  king  sent  Paul  de  la  Barthe,  marshal  of  Termes,  to  Poitiers 
with  200  men-at-arms  to  check  heresy,  and  particularly  to 
"  catch  the  ministers  and  punish  them  soundly."  They  were  to 
be  hanged  without  trial.  He  was  to  permit  no  assemblies,  and 
if  any  were  held,  he  was  to  fall  upon  them  with  the  sword.  "  I 
beg  of  you,  cousin,"  he  wrote,  "  to  sweep  the  country  clear  of 
such  rabble  who  disturb  the  world."  f  Such  orders  were  the 
fruit  of  the  Guise  government ;  it  is  but  just,  however,  to  say, 
that  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  letter  was  sent  to  the  marshal, 
probably  because  on  reflection  it  appeared  too  cruel.  The 
Count  of  Villars,  describing  the  effect  produced  by  this  mer- 
ciless persecution,  writes :  "  Part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Nismes, 
to  the  number  of  3000  or  4000,  have  retired  into  the  mount- 
ains of  the  Gevaudan,  whence  they  threaten  to  descend  into 
the  plain,  in  which  case  those  who  appear  the  most  submissive 
will  •  infallibly  join  them.  The  heresy  extends  every  day." 
As  for  the  prisoners,  he  continues,  their  number  is  so  great 
that  it  is  impossible  to  put  them  all  to  death.  On  the  1 2th  Oc- 
tober, 1560,  he  informs  the  constable  that  he  has  burned  two 
mule-loads  of  books  from  Geneva,  valued  at  1000  crowns,  and 
set  free  a  number  of  women  on  their  promise  "  to  live  in  obe- 
dience to  God,  the  Roman  Church,  and  the  King."  J  In  the 
same  month  the  magistrates  of  Anjou  complain  to  the  cardi- 
nal, that  "  the  seditious  remnants  of  Amboise,  uniting  with  the 

*  Aubcspine  :  Corresp.  12th  April,  1560,  pp.  342,  361. 
t  Ibid.  1st  October,  1560.  %  Hid.  p.  655. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BAKTHOLOMEW.  95 

depraved  nobility  to  the  number  of  1000  or  1200,  celebrate 
the  communion  and  disturb  the  country."  * 

As  the  barbarous  orders  of  the  court  could  not  be  kept  se- 
cret, they  only  served  to  exasperate  the  Huguenots.  Becom- 
ing more  aggressive,  they  appropriated  many  of  the  churches 
to  their  own  use,  turning  out  the  priests,  whom  they  often 
cruelly  maltreated.  The  sacred  edifices  they  purified,  as  they 
called  it,  by  destroying  the  pictures,  breaking  down  the  roods, 
throwing  away  the  relics,  and  giving  the  consecrated  wafer  to 
swine.  We  can  hardly  picture  to  ourselves  the  horror  excited 
in  Catholic  minds  by  such  outrages.  It  may  be  compared 
with  the  thrill  of  agony  that  ran  through  England,  when  the 
atrocities  of  the  Sepoy  mutiny  became  known.  The  Duke  of 
Guise  retaliated  with  unrelenting  ferocity.  He  was  governor 
of  Dauphiny,  and,  to  intimidate  that  province,  he  ordered  one 
Maugiron,  a  creature  of  his  and  afterward  governor  of  Lyons, 
to  make  an  example  of  the  people  of  Valence  and  Romans. 
These  places  were  taken  by  a  foul  stratagem,  two  of  the  Iln- 
guenot  ministers  were  beheaded,  and  the  principal  citizens 
were  hanged,  and  their  houses  given  up  to  pillage.  One  fe- 
rocity begot  another.  Two  Reformed  gentlemen,  Montbrun 
and  Mouvans,  raised  the  country,  destroying  or  defiling 
churches,  opening  convents  and  turning  out  the  inmates,  espe- 
cially the  nuns,  and  ill-using  the  priests,  and  defiantly  celebrat- 
ing public  worship  under  arms.  The  subsequent  history  of 
Anthony  Derichiend,  seigneur  of  Mouvans,  furnishes  a  strik- 
ing illustration  of  the  lawlessness  and  insecurity  of  the  times. 
Being  tired  of  war,  he  and  his  brother  Paul  returned  to  their 
homes  at  Castellane  in  Provence,  intending  to  pass  the  remain- 
der of  their  days  in  God's  service.  They  did  not,  however, 
find  the  quiet  they  had  expected.  They  were  much  annoyed 
by  their  neighbors,  and  during  Lent  a  grey  friar  went  into  the 
pulpit  and  so  inflamed  the  people  against  them  that  they  were 
besieged  in  their  own  house  by  a  mob  of  several  hundred 

*  Aubcspine  :   Corresp.  1 4th  October,  1560. 


96  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

men.  They  escaped  this  peril,  and  Anthony  appealed  to  Hen- 
ry for  protection,  which  was  granted  (1559).  While  he  was 
on  his  way  to  Grenoble,  to  lay  his  case  before  the  Parliament, 
as  the  king  had  bidden  him,  he  halted  at  Draguignan.  The 
children,  instigated  by  certain  priests,  began  to  hoot  at  him  as 
"  a  Lutheran,"  and  in  a  short  time  a  fierce  mob  crowded 
round  the  house  in  which  he  had  taken  shelter.  Hoping  to 
save  his  life,  he  surrendered  into  the  hands  of  the  officers  of 
justice,  who  were  too  weak,  and  probably  not  over-anxious,  to 
protect  him.  The  mob  tore  him  out  of  their  hands,  beat  him 
to  death,  and  inflicted  brutalities  on  his  corpse  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  describe.  Among  other  things  they  plucked  out 
his  heart  and  other  portions,  and  carried  them  on  sticks  tri- 
umphantly round  the  town.  One  of  the  wretches  offered  a 
morsel  of  the  liver  to  a  dog  which  refused  to  touch  it.  With 
a  kick  and  an  oath  the  man  howled  out :  "  Are  you  too  a 
Lutheran  like  Mouvans  ?"  *  An  inquiry  was  ordered  into  the 
outrage,  but  the  passions  of  all  the  province  were  too  much 
excited  -to  permit  justice  to  be  done.  "You  have  killed  the 
old  one,"  said  one  of  the  royal  commissioners,  "  why  don't  you 
kill  the  young  one  ?  I  would  not  give  a  straw  for  your  cour- 
age. Down  with  all  these  rascally  Lutherans,  kill  them  all." 
Paul  now  took  up  arms,  and  after  inflicting  much  damage 
upon  his  adversaries,  was  finally  compelled  to  take  refuge  at 
Geneva. 

Of  the  morals  of  these  "  rascally  Lutherans  "  in  this  part  of 
France,  we  have  the  unimpeachable  testimony  of  Procureur 
Marquet  of  Valence,  who  says  that,  for  the  eight  years  he  held 
the  office  of  town-clerk,  not  a  day  passed  but  his  registers 
were  full  of  complaints  of  outrages  of  every  kind  committed 
during  the  night.  The  streets  were  unsafe  after  dark,  and  the 
citizens  were  not  secure  from  robbery  and  violence  even  in 
their  own  houses.  Then  he  adds :  "  But  after  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  all  that  was  altered,  as  if  a  change  of  life  had 

*  Regnier  de  la  Planchc,  p.  200. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  97 

accompanied  a  change  of  doctrine."  Xo  one  was  found  bold 
enough  to  contradict  such  testimony. 

One  of  the  first  persons  to  raise  his  voice  against  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Huguenots  was  L'Hopital,  the  chancellor.  In 
his  inaugural  address  to  the  Parliament  of  Paris  (5th  July, 
1560)  he  boldly  declared  the  Church  to  be  the  cause  of  the  re- 
ligious disorders  through  its  evil  example ;  the  soldiers  were 
unpaid  and  justified  their  violence;  the  mass  of  the  people 
both  in  town  and  country  were  ignorant  and  wicked,  because 
the  priests  preached  to  them  about  tithes  and  offerings,  and  said 
nothing  about  godly  living ;  and  that  the  only  remedy  was  a 
general  council.  He  went  on  to  argue  that  the  diseases  of  the 
mind  are  not  to  be  healed  like  those  of  the  body,  adding,  that 
"  though  a  man  may  recant  he  does  not  change  his  heart."  * 

In  this  address  L'Hopital  spoke  the  sentiments  of  a  small 
but  increasing  party  which,  under  the  name  of  the  "politi- 
cians," tried  to  hold  a  balance  between  the  Huguenots  and 
the  Romanists.  They  might  indeed  be  called  "  constitutional- 
ists," for  there  is  no  doubt  their  secret  desire  was  to  put  an 
end  to  the  ministerial  usurpation  and  despotism  of  the  Guises. 
They  maintained  that  the  dissidents  had  a  right  to  be  heard ; 
but  their  arguments  would  have  been  ineffectual  had  the  ex- 
chequer been  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  government 
was  in  extreme  want  of  money,  the  annual  expenditure  ex- 
ceeding the  income  by  nearly  three  millions  of  livres.  Loans 
could  only  be  raised  at  exorbitant  rates  of  interest,  and  to  im- 
pose new  taxes  would  only  increase  the  disorders  of  the  coun- 
try and  perhaps  drive  the  peasants  into  another  Jacquerie. 
Thus  all  parties  came  at  last  to  agree  in  the  necessity  of  call- 
ing the  States-General  together ;  preliminary  to  which  letters 
patent  were  issued,  convening  an  assembly  of  Notables  at  Fon- 
tainebleau,  these  Notables  being  persons  of  rank  and  influence 

*  "  Quand  un  hommc  ayant  mauvaise  opinion  faisait  I'nmende  honorable, 
et  prononcjait  les  mots  d'icellc,  il  ne  changeait  pour  ccla  son  cceur,  fopinion 
se  muant  par  oraisons  a  LUeu,  parole,  et  raison  pcrsuadee."  Commentaires, 
p.  73  verso. 

G 


98  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

among  the  nobles  and  clergy,  knights  of  the  order  of  St.  Mi- 
chael, and  lawyers. 

The  king  was  escorted  to  the  place  of  meeting  by  a  strong 
guard,  in  addition  to  the  troops  under  the  command  of  the 
Guises.  The  general  distrust  and  insecurity  were  shown  by 
the  number  of  armed  men  who  accompanied  the  great  chief- 
tains of  each  party.  The  constable  was  attended  by  his  two 
sons,  Marshals  Montmorency  and  Damville,  and  followed  by 
eight  hundred  gentlemen  on  horseback.  Coligny,  Andelot, 
the  Vidame  of  Chartres,  and  Prince  Porcien  entered  with  nine 
hundred  of  the  inferior  nobility.  The  meeting  was  opened 
on  the  21st  August,  in  the  apartments  of  Catherine  de  Medi- 
cis.  Grouped  around  the  young  king  were  his  brothers  and 
their  mother ;  the  Cardinals  of  Bourbon,  Lorraine,  Guise,  and 
Chatillon ;  the  Dukes  of  Guise  and  Aumale,  the  Constable  and 
the  Admiral ;  Marshals  St.  Andre  and  Brissac,  the  knights  of 
the  order,  and  other  privy  councilors.  The  two  princes  of 
the  blood  (Navarre  and  Conde)  were  absent,  having  (it  is 
said)  come  to  an  arrangement  with  Coligny  never  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  same  place  with  him  lest  they  should  all  be  caught 
in  the  trap  at  once.  Francis  II.  opened  the  proceedings  with 
a  few  complimentary  phrases,  and  then  deputed  his  chancellor 
to  lay  before  the  members  the  condition  of  the  country. 
L'Hopital,  who  had  succeeded  Olivier  through  the  influence  of 
the  Duchess  of  Montpensier,  a  special  favorite  of  Catherine's, 
was  not  a  man  of  illustrious  birth ;  but  by  industry,  integrity, 
and  learning,  he  had  risen  step  by  step  .to  the  highest  office  in 
the  state. .  On  this  occasion,  with  rather  less  prolixity  than  was 
customary  in  those  days,  he  described  the  state  as  being  sick, 
the  Church  corrupted,  justice  weakened,  the  nobles  disorder- 
ly, and  the  zeal  and  loyalty  which  the  people  were  wont  to 
show  the  king  wonderfully  cooled ;  and  that  the*  remedy  for 
all  these  evils  was  hard  to  find.  He  did  not  so  much  as  ven- 
ture to  hint  at  one  of  the  remedies  ;  but  at  the  second  sitting, 
two  days  later  (22d  August),  Coligny  boldly  opened  up  the 
matter  by  presenting  a  petition  from  the  Huguenots,  in  which 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  99 

they  justified  their  faith  by  Scripture,  asserted  their  loyalty 
and  love  for  the  king,  professed  that  they  had  never  under- 
stood their  duty  so  well  toward  their  sovereign  as  since  they 
had  been  converted  to  the  new  doctrine,  prayed  that  a  stop 
might  be  put  to  the  cruel  persecutions  under  which  they  were 
suffering,  and  asked  permission  to  read  the  Bible  and  hold 
their  meetings  in  open  day,  offering  in  return  "  to  pay  larger 
tribute  than  the  rest  of  His  Majesty's  subjects."  Strange  to 
say,  the  prayer  of  the  petition  was  supported  by  two  high  ec- 
clesiastical dignitaries — John  de  Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence, 
and  Charles  de  Marillac,  Archbishop  of  Vienne.  Montluc  was 
an  eloquent  speaker,  much  esteemed  for  his  experience  in  pub- 
lic affairs  and  knowledge  of  sacred  literature.  He  denounced 
the  severities  and  tyranny  of  the  judges  toward  the  Luther- 
ans, and  charged  the  Guises  with  violating  the  laws  of  the 
kingdom  and  sowing  dissensions  between  the  king  and  his 
subjects.  He  described  the  superior  clergy  as  "idlers  not 
having  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  or  that  they  would 
have  to  give  an  account  of  their  flocks,"  adding  that  their  only 
care  was  for  the  revenue  of  their  sees,  and  that  thirty  or  forty 
of  them  were  non-resident,  leading  scandalous  lives  in  Paris ; 
the  inferior  clergy  he  characterized  as  ignorant  and  avaricious. 
He  went  on  to  say :  "  Let  your  majesty  see  that  the  word  of 
God  be  no  more  profaned,  but  let  the  Scriptures  be  every- 
where read  and  explained  with  purity  and  sincerity.  Let  the 
Gospel  be  preached  daily  in  your  house,  so  that  the  mouths  of 
those  may  be  shut  who  say  that  God's  name  is  never  heard 
there."  Then  turning  to  the  two  queens,  Mary  Stuart  and 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  he  continued :  "  Pardon  me,  ladies,  if  I 
dare  entreat  you  to  order  your  damsels  to  sing  not  foolish 
songs,  but  the  Psalms  of  David  and  spiritual  hymns ;  and  re- 
member that  the  eye  of  God  is  over  all  men  and  in  all  places, 
and  is  fixed  there  only  where  his  name  is  praised  and  exalt- 
ed." The  remedy  he  proposed,  and  which  had  been  men- 
tioned in  the  petition  presented  by  Coligny,  was  a  general 
council. 


100  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

In  one  part  of  his  speech,  when  giving  a  sketch  of  the  prog- 
ress of  Reform  in  France,  he  passed  a  noble  compliment  on 
its  ministers :  "  The  doctrine,"  he  said,  "  which  finds  favor 
with  your  subjects  has  not  been  sown  in  one  or  two  days,  but 
has  taken  thirty  years :  it  was  brought  in  by  300  or  400  min- 
isters, men  of  diligence  and  learning,  of  great  modesty,  grav- 
ity, and  apparent  holiness,  professing  to  detest  all  vice,  espe- 
cially avarice ;  fearing  not  to  lose  their  lives  so  that  they  might 
enforce  their  teaching,  having  Jesus  Christ  always  on  their 
lips  ....  a  name  so  sweet  that  it  opens  the  closest  ears  and 
sinks  easily  into  the  hearts  of  the  most  hardened.  These 
preachers,  finding  the  people  without  pastor  or  guide,  with  no 
one  to  instruct  or  teach  them,  were  received  readily,  and  list- 
ened to  wiUingly.  So  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  if  great 
numbers  have  embraced  this  new  doctrine,  which  has  been 
proclaimed  by  so  many  preachers  and  books."  On  the  other 
hand,  he  said  that  bishoprics  were  frequently  bestowed  upon 
children,  and  benefices  conferred  upon  cooks,  barbers  and  lac- 
queys. 

Marillac,  who  had  learned  experience  as  embassador  at  the 
court  of  Charles  V.,  used  similar  but  stronger  language :  he 
spoke  of  the  "  corrupted  discipline  of  the  Church,  of  multi- 
plied abuses,  frequent  scandals,  and  licentious  ministers,"  and 
agreed  that  the  only  remedy  lay  in  a  national  council.  "  To  pre- 
pare the  way  for  that  council,"  he  said,  "  three  or  four  things 
are  necessary.  Firstly,  all  the  bishops,  without  exception, 
must  be  forced  to  reside  in  their  dioceses.  Secondly,  we  must 
show  by  our  actions  that  we  are  determined  to  reform  our- 
selves, and  to  that  end  we  must  put  down  simony.  For  spirit- 
ual things  are  given  by  God  freely  without  money :  gratis  ac- 
cepistis,  gratis  date.  Thirdly,  we  must  fast  and  confess  our 
sins,  which  is  the  first  step  toward  a  cure.  Fourthly,  both  fac- 
tions must  lay  down  their  arms."  The  next  day  Coligny  de- 
fended the  petition  he  had  presented.  "  The  king,"  he  said, 
"  was  beloved  and  not  hated ;  and  the  people  did  not  like  to  be 
kept  from  him.  All  the  discontent  was  against  those  who 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  101 

managed  affairs,  and  would  easily  be  quieted,  if  they  would 
rule  according  to  the  laws  of  the  kingdom."  He  advised  the 
assembling  of  the  States-General  and  the  dimissal  of  the  guard, 
which  was  not  required  for  the  protection  of  the  sovereign. 
He  also  suggested  the  relaxation  of  the  persecutions  until  the 
assembling  of  a  council.  "But  your  petition,"  said  Francis 
II.,  "has  no  signatures."  "That  is  true,  Sire,"  replied  the 
admiral ;  "  but  if  you  will  allow  us  to  meet  for  the  purpose,  I 
will  in  one  day  obtain  in  Xormandy  alone  50,000  signatures." 
"And  I,"  said  the  Duke  of  Guise,*  interrupting  him,  "will 
find  100,000  good  Catholics  to  bteak  their  heads."  He  then 
contended  that  a  royal  guard  had  become  necessary  since  the 
affair  of  Amboise.  "  My  brother  and  I,"  he  said,  "  have  never 
offended  or  given  cause  of  discontent  to  any  as  regards  their 
private  affairs."  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  argued  that,  to 
permit  the  Reformed  to  have  their  temples  and  the  right  of 
public  worship  was  to  approve  of  their  "  idolatry,"  which  the 
king  could  not  do  without  the  risk  of  eternal  damnation.f 
Ho  denied  the  loyalty  of  the  petitioners,  "  who  are  obedient 
only  on  condition  that  the  king  should  be  of  their  opinion  and 
their  sect,  or  at  least  approves  of  it."  He  gloried  in  the  ani- 
mosity of  the  Huguenots,  adding  (as  if  aside)  "there  are 
twenty-two  of  their  libels  against  me  now  on  my  table,  and  I 
intend  to  preserve  them  very  carefully."  In  conclusion  he 
called  for  the  severest  measures  against  such  "  of  the  religion  " 
as  should  take  up  arms ;  but  as  for  those  who  went  unarmed 
to  the  sermon,  sang  psalms,  and  kept  away  from  mass,  he  did 
not  advise  their  punishment,  seeing  that  all  severity  hitherto 
had  been  useless.  He  even  expressed  regret  that  they  should 
have  been  so  cruelly  treated,  and  offered  his  life  if  that  could 
bring  the  stray  sheep  back  to  the  fold.  He  ended  with  an  ex- 
hortation to  the  clergy  to  reform  themselves,  and  desired  that 

*  Commentaires,  p.  101  verso.  Regnier  assigns  the  duke's  retort  to  his 
hrother  the  Cardinal.  See  also  Mignet,  Journal  des  Savants,  1859,  p.  25 ; 
Bouille  :  Hist.  Guise,  ii.  p.  86. 

t  "  Sans  etre  perpetuellement  damne'."    Mayer,  £tats  yen.  x.  296. 


102  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  bishops  and  others  should  inquire  into  the  abuses  of  the 
Church  and  report  thereon  to  the  king.  Of  good  words  and 
good  resolutions  the  cardinal  always  had  an  ample  store  upon 
which  he  could  draw  at  will.  They  were  mere  counters  with 
which  to  play  the  game  of  politics. 

The  discussion,  which  also  embraced  the  subject  of  the  tu- 
mult of  Amboise,  the  severity  of  the  retaliation,  and  the  alarm- 
ing increase  of  the  royal  body-guard  (which  was  denounced 
in  nearly  the  same  terms  as  our  ancestors  complained  of  a 
standing  army),  resulted  in  a  decision  to  convene,  first,  the 
States-General,  and,  afterward,  a  national  council,  to  decide 
upon  the  religious  faith  of  the  French  people.  The  King  of 
Spain  remonstrated  through  his  embassador  against  the  meet- 
ing of  the  States,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  "  puff  up  the 
Huguenots ;"  and  offered  his  aid  to  chastise  them.  But 
money  was  wanted,  and  the  court  was  prepared  to  make  any 
temporary  sacrifice  in  order  to  procure  supplies.  The  Vene- 
tian embassador  saw  the  importance  of  this  official  recognition 
of  the  Reformed  party.  "  Either  their  desires  will  be  satisfied," 
he  says,  "  or  else,  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  keep  them  obe- 
dient to  the  pope,  the  court  must  resort  to  force,  shed  pitiless- 
ly the  blood  of  the  nobility,  divide  the  kingdom  into  two  par- 
ties, and  come  to  a  civil  war,  which  will  destroy  both  country 
and  religion.  .  .  .  Religious  changes  always  lead  the  way  to 
political  changes ;"  *  an  assertion  which  is  only  partially  true. 
Political  and  religious  changes,  when  national  and  not  merely 
personal,  are  produced  by  the  operation  of  similar  causes  ; 
and  which  change  shall  come  first  depends  upon  circumstances 
that  appear  to  vary  in  every  case.  In  1560  the  Venetian  em- 
bassador certainly  had  not  sufficient  data  from  which  to  draw 
so  sweeping  a  conclusion.  The  court  saw  no  danger  in  the 
proposed  assemblies,  and  writs  were  issued  for  the  States-Gen- 
eral to  meet  in  December,  1560,  at  Meaux  in  Brie,  and  for  a 
national  council  of  bishops  and  other  church  dignitaries  to 

*  Baschet,  p.  506. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  103 

assemble  at  Pontoise  on  the  following  month  of  January. 
The  letters  of  convocation  ran  that  "  they  were  to  confer  to- 
gether and  resolve  what  should  be  laid  before  a  general  coun- 
cil ;  and  until  that  should  assemble,  the  clergy  were  to  sus- 
pend all  proceedings  against  heretics,  and  correct  the  abuses 
that  had  gradually  crept  into  the  house  of  God."  * 

After  the  Amboise  failure,  Anthony  of  Navarre  kept  him- 
self aloof  at  Nerac  in  Gascony,  where  he  was  joined  by  his 
brother  Conde,  who  had  openly  professed  the  new  religion. 
The  latter  succeeded  in  inspiring  the  king  with  some  of  his 
own  spirit,  but  could  not  induce  him  to  take  any  step  that 
would  commit  him  with  the  Lorraine  party.  Meanwhile  the 
little  town  on  the  Baise  became  the  general  rendezvous  of  all 
the  discontented,  who,  undismayed  by  the  past,  were  quite  as 
ready  to  act  as  to  speak.  But  there  was  no  one  to  lead  them, 
for  the  eldest  of  the  Bourbon  line  still  hesitated.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  a  remonstrance  from  the  whole  Huguenot  body 
might  move  him,  and  with  that  intent  the  chiefs  of  the  Prot- 
estant party  laid  before  him  "  a  supplication,"  in  which  they 
(to  the  number  of  more  than  a  million)  offered  him  the  dispos- 
al of  their  lives  and  fortunes,  provided  he  would  make  com- 
mon cause  with  them  by  putting  himself  at  their  head ;  threat- 
ening, in  case  of  refusal,  to  choose  another  leader,  native  or 
foreign*  The  supplication  was  nominally  addressed  to  both 
princes,  but  was  really  intended  for  Navarre  alone,  who  how- 
ever was  not  bold  enough  to  act  upon  it. 

At  the  same  time  the  Guises,  repenting  that  they  had  per- 
mitted Conde,  "  the  dumb  chief,"  to  leave  Amboise,  began  to 
strengthen  their  hands.  Duke  Francis,  now  lieutenant-gener- 
al of  the  kingdom,  having  full  control  over  the  military  re- 
sources of  the  country,  increased  the  royal  body-guard  by  the 
addition  of  several  regiments,  the  command  of  which  he  gave 
to  the  infamous  Du  Plessis-Richelieu,  one  time  a  monk  but 
now  a  soldier.  He  also  received  troops  from  Scotland,  kept 

*  Mayer:  Coll.  Etats  yen.  x.  p.  310. 


104.  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

up  the  veteran  regiments  of  Brissac,  which  had  just  returned 
from  Italy,  and  negotiated  for  the  assistance  of  Swiss  and 
German  mercenaries.  This  step,  as  we  shall  see,  necessarily 
drove  the  Huguenots  to  seek  foreign  help.  Meanwhile  the 
King  of  Navarre  and  his  brother  appear  to  have  entered  into 
a  new  plot  against  the  Guises,  of  which  a  general  Huguenot 
insurrection  formed  a  part.  It  was  to  begin  with  the  seizure 
of  Lyons,  an  important  town  close  to  the  Swiss  frontier  and 
on  the  northern  border  of  the  most  Protestant  portion  of 
France.  Here  Conde  was  to  rally  all  the  disaffected  nobility 
and  gentry,  while  Navarre  headed  a  similar  rising  in  the  west. 
This  plot,  even  more  obscure  than  that  of  Amboise,  came  to 
nothing,  beyond  implicating  the  two  Bourbon  princes,  whose 
share  in  it  is,  nevertheless,  somewhat  doubtful.  This  was  an- 
other triumph  for  the  house  of  Lorraine,  who  determined  to 
crush  their  rivals  at  once  and  forever.  Francis  II.  proceed- 
ed to  Orleans  escorted  by  a  numerous  guard.  The  Prince  of 
Roche-sur-Yon  was  made  governor  for  the  occasion;  the  gar- 
risons from  the  neighboring  towns  were  called  in,  which,  added 
to  the  king's  escort  of  4000  foot,  composed  a  force  of  nearly 
10,000  men.  Hither  the  two  brothers  were  summoned  to  ex- 
plain their  conduct,  and  the  Count  of  Crussol,  the  bearer  of  the 
letters,  was  instructed  to  hint  that  resistance  was  hopeless,  as 
the  king  could  bring  against  them  48,000  French  troops  be- 
sides Swiss  and  German  lansquenets.  Moreover  the  King  of 
Spain  had  promised  to  assist  with  two  large  armies,  one  enter- 
ing France  by  Picardy,  the  other  by  the  Pyrenees.  Anthony 
at  first  held  back,  despite  these  hints,  and  had  he  been  as  en- 
terprising as  his  brother,  he  might  soon  have  been  at  the  head 
of  a  force  as  strong  as  any  that  the  Guises  could  muster 
against  him,  and  for  a  time  it  was  believed  at  court  that  lie 
could  do  so.  But  he  was  always  mean-spirited,  always  crouch- 
ing, and  cringing,  and  thinking  of  himself.  Some  time  before 
this,  in  order  to  contradict  a  report  coming  from  Spain  that 
he  favored  the  Amboise  conspirators,*  he  fell  upon  some 
*  Letter  of  Francis  II.  to  Anthony,  April  15  :  Colbert,  MSS.  vol.  xxviii.  • 


MASSACRE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  105 

Protestant  insurgents  at  Agen  and  cut  them  to  pieces.  Both 
he  and  his  brother  had  been  warned  of  the  impending  'danger. 
The  Princess  of  Conde  wrote  to  her  husband  :  "  Every  step 
you  take  toward  the  court  brings  you  nearer  to  destruction. 
If  your  death  is  inevitable,  it  is  surely  more  glorious  to  die  at 
the  head  of  an  army  than  to  perish  ignominiously  on  the  scaf- 
fold." Catherine  also  intimated  to  him  circuitously  that  "  it 
was  death  for  him  to  come  to  court."  * 

After  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Orleans,  Anthony 
moved  so  slowly  and  irresolutely  that  the  journey  occupied 
him  a  month.  On  the  road  he  dismissed  the  little  band  of 
Huguenot  gentlemen  who  had  gathered  round  him  with  the 
words  :  "  I  must  obey,  but  I  will  obtain  your  pardon  from  the 
king."  "  Go,"  said  an  old  captain,  "  go  and  ask  pardon  for  your- 
self:  our  safety  is  in  our  swords."  f  On  the  31st  Octobei1, 
1560,  he  reached  Orleans.  It  was  nearly  dark  when  he  enter- 
ed the  city,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Louis,  the  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon,  and  a  few  servants.  No  one  dared  go  out  to  meet 
him,  and  extraordinary  precautions  had  been  taken  to  guard 
against  a  hostile  attack.  Immediately  on  the  arrival  of  Fran- 
cis II.  the  city  had  (to  use  a  modern  term)  been  put  under 
martial  law.  Artillery  brought  from  Compiegne  was  mount- 
ed on  the  walls,  the  sentries  were  doubled,  and  the  citizens  or- 
dered, under  the  severest  penalties,  to  deliver  up  their  arms, 
even  including  such  knives  as  were  of  unusual  length.  Nu- 
merous arrests  had  been  made  of  suspected  persons,  and  among 
them  was  the  high-bailiff  of  the  city.  And  now  from  the 
gates  to  the  castle  where  the  king  lodged  armed  men  lined  the 
streets  in  double  file — an  imposing  but  idle  show.  When  An- 
thony reached  the  royal  quarters,  he  desired,  according  to  his 
privilege  as  a  prince  of  the  blood,  to  ride  into  the  court-yard  ; 

*  Castelnau  in  his  Memoires  says,  that  the  queen-mother  assured  them 
they  might  come  "  without  fear,"  and  would  be  as  safe  in  Orleans  as  in  their 
own  houses.  Both  stories  may  be  true,  and  this  is  not  the  only  time  when 
her  public  and  private  opinions  were  at  variance. 

t  Voltaire  :  Essai  sur  les  Guerres  civiks. 


106  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

but  the  great  gates  were  shut  against  him,  and  he  had  to  dis- 
mount and  enter  by  a  wicket.  The  Venetian  embassador, 
Giovanni  Michieli,  thus  describes  his  appearance  about  this 
time  : — "  He  is  now  between  forty-four  and  forty-five  years  of 
age.  His  beard  is  getting  grey,  his  demeanor  is  much  more 
imposing  than  that  of  his  brother,  whose  stature  is  low,  and 
figure  awkward.  He  is  tall,  robust,  and  well-made,  and  his 
courage  in  battle  is  highly  extolled,  though  he  is  rather  a  good 
soldier  than  a  skillful  general."  Another  embassador  mentions 
with  astonishment  the  rich  ear-rings  and  other  ornaments  An- 
thony delighted  to  wear. 

Francis  received  him  frowningly,  not  condescending  to 
raise  his  hat,  as  he  was  wont  to  do  to  the  meanest  gentle- 
man. After  kneeling,  Anthony  said  he  had  come  thither  in 
obedience  to  the  royal  command,  to  vindicate  his  character 
against  calumnious  charges ;  to  which  the  king  replied  that 
it  was  well,  at  the  same  time  forbidding  him  to  quit  Orleans 
without  permission.  As  Conde  did  not  utter  a  word,  the 
king  angrily  reproached  him  with  conspiracy  and  rebellion. 
The  prince  replied  calmly  that  these  were  slanders  invented 
by  his  enemies,  and  that  he  would  take  care  to  justify  him- 
self ;  to  which  Francis  made  answer  that,  to  give  him  an  op- 
portunity of  so  doing,  he  would  be  kept  in  prison  until  trial. 
The  king  then  ordered  the  captains  of  his  guard,  Chavigny 
and  Brezay,  to  arrest  the  prince.  As  they  were  leading  him 
away,  he  said  to  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  who  had  per- 
suaded him  to  trust  the  king :  "  By  your  exhortations  you 
have  betrayed  your  brother  to  death."*  He  was  guarded 
very  strictly;  the  windows  of  the  house  in  which  he  was 
confined  were  closely  barred,  sentinels  were  posted  round 
it,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  have  access  to  him.  "  The 
King  of  Navarre,"  says  Throckmorton,  "goeth  at  liberty, 
but  as  it  were  a  prisoner,  and  is  every  other  day  on  hunt- 


*  Comment,  de  FEstat,  p.  112.   Regnier  adds:  "Dont  il  (the  cardinal)  fut 
tcllement  contriste  qu'il  n'eut  recours  qu'  a  ses  larmes." 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  107 

ins:."*     He  was  under  strict  surveillance;  all  his  words  and 

o  * 

acts  were  closely  watched. 

The  Chatillons  had  been  duly  summoned  to  attend  at 
Orleans.  Audelot,  suspecting  treachery,  retired  to  Brittany ; 
while  his  brother  the  admiral,  who  was  equally  suspicious  of 
the  Guises,  determined  to  be  present  in  his  place.  He  bade 
farewell  to  his  wife,  shortly  to  become  a  mother,  as  if  he  was 
never  to  see  her  face  again,  desiring  her  to  have  the  babe 
christened  by  the  "  true  ministers  of  the  word  of  God."  Cath- 
erine received  him  cordially,  and  indeed  put  him  on  his  guard, 
it  being  her  interest  thus  to  play  off  one  party  against  the 
other. 

And  now  once  more  the  Guises  were  triumphant,  and  their 
hands  were  strengthened  by  the  acts  of  those  who  had  plotted 
their  ruin.  Now  that  the  prey  was  in  their  grasp,  they  would 
show  no  mercy.  But  first  they  must  be  revenged  on  the  Hu- 
guenots, "  those  silly  folks  Avho  bring  such  scandal  on  the 
honor  of  God,"  as  the  cardinal  wrote  to  De  Burie.  "We 
must  make  a  striking  example  of  them,  so  that,  by  the  punish- 
ment of  a  few  bad  men,  the  good  may  be  preserved."  The 
pastors  were  especially  singled  out,  that  their  fate  might  be  a 
warning  for  the  future.  Conde  was  to  be  tried  before  a  pack- 
ed commission,  of  whose  verdict  and  sentence  there  could  be 
no  doubt.  His  brother's  fate  was  equally  certain,f  and  as  soon 
as  the  two  princes  of  the  blood  were  dispatched,  the  admiral 
with  Montmorency  and  all  the  opponents  of  the  Lorraine 
family  were  to  be  got  rid  of.  Such  a  scheme  of  wholesale 
murder  is  hardly  credible,  though  supported  by  the  strong 
testimony  of  the  Spanish  embassador,  who  feared  the  Guises 
were  going  a  "  little  too  fast."  J  Anthony  of  Navarre  was 


*  Hardwicke  :  State  Papers,  i.  p.  129  ;  Letter  to  the  Queen,  17th  of  No- 
vember, 15GO. 

t  The  duke  and  the  cardinal  openly  boasted  that,  at  two  blows,  they 
would  cut  off  the  heads  of  heresy  and  rebellion.  Davila,  liv.  ii. 

J  "  Seria  mas  acertado  castigar  poco  a  poco  los  culpados  quo  prcnder  tan- 
tos  de  un  golpe."  Simancas  Archives :  Journ.  dcs  Savants,  1839,  p.  39. 


108  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  be  the  first  victim.  One  day  he  was  summoned  to  an  audi- 
ence with  the  king,  at  which  it  had  been  arranged  that  a  quarrel 
should  be  got  up  between  him  and  Francis  II. ;  that  the  latter 
should  draw  his  sword  as  in  self-defense ;  and  that  the  crea- 
tures of  the  Guises  should  then  rush  in  and  murder  the  prince. 
It  is  alleged  that  Anthony  had  been  informed  of  the  plot,  but 
nevertheless  would  not  shrink  from  the  audience.  As  he 
was  leaving  his  quarters,  he  said  to  Captain  lienty,  one  of  his 
faithful  followers  :  "  If  I  perish,  strip  off  my  shirt  and  carry  it 
to  my  wife,  and  bid  her  take  it  to  every  Christian  king  in 
Europe,  and  call  on  him  to  avenge  my  death."  As  soon  as 
Anthony  entered  the  presence-chamber,  the  door  was  closed 
behind  him.  Francis  made  some  insulting  observations,  but 
hesitated — was  it  through  fear  or  pity? — to  give  the  signal 
for  his  uncle's  murder.  "  The  coward !"  muttered  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  who  stood  watching  on  the  other  side  of  the  door. 
Anthony  survived  the  perilous  interview.* 

The  Chancellor  L'Hopital  and  five  judges  were  appointed 
as  a  commission  to  try  Conde  in  prison,  and  although  he  re- 
fused to  plead  before  them,  it  availed  him  nothing.  This  pro- 
test and  such  answers  as  he  did  make  having  been  laid  before 
the  king  in  council,  the  prince  was  found  guilty  of  high  trea- 
son, and  condemned  to  lose  his  head.  But  before  the  sen- 
tence could  be  carried  out,  great  changes  took  place  in  France. 
About  the  middle  of  November  the  king,  whose  health  had 
never  been  very  robust,  "  felt  himself  somewhat  evil-disposed 
of  his  body,  with  a  pain  in  his  head  and  one  of  his  ears."  f 
He  rapidly  grew  worse;  all  means  of  relief  were  tried,  but 
tried  in  vain.  He  was  suffering  from  internal  abscess.  While 
he  lay  between  life  and  death,  the  Guises  made  a  desperate 
effort  to  get  rid  of  the  only  antagonist  whom  they  really  fear- 
ed. They  urged  Catherine  to  make  away  with  their  common 

*  I  give  this  incident  as  I  find  it,  but  hold  it  to  be  a  fiction.  It  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  king's  character  and  the  state  of  his  health  at  the  time. 

t  Throckmorton  to  Chamberlayne,  21st  November,  1560  ;  Wright's  Eliz- 
abeth, i.  p.  57. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  -          109 

enemy  before  it  was  too  late ;  but  Catherine,  knowing  that, 
in  the  strife  of  parties,  the  enemy  of  Guise  must  be  a  friend 
to  her,  refused  to  do  any  thing  without  consulting  the  chancel- 
lor. L'Hopital  found  the  queen  "  weeping  among  her  women, 
who  surrounded  her  in  deep  silence,  their  eyes  fixed  on  the 
ground."  It  did  not  give  him  much  trouble  to  show  the  illegal- 
ity as  well  as  the  impolicy  of  the  proposed  act,  and  Conde  was 
saved.  On  the  5th  of  December  Francis  II.  expired  in  great 
agony,  and  as  it  was  part  of  the  popular  faith  to  believe  that 
no  great  personage  could  die  a  natural  death,  Ambrose  Pare, 
the  famous  surgeon,  was  accused  of  poisoning  the  youthful 
king  by  pouring  "  aleporous  distillment"  into  his  ear,  by  com- 
mand of  the  queen-mother.*  Coligny,  as  one  of  the  chief  offi- 
cers of  the  crown,  had  the  melancholy  charge  of  watching  the 
dying  king,  and  did  not  leave  the  bedside  until  Francis  had 
breathed  his  last.  Then — turning  to  the  courtiers  who  were 
present,  and  who  had  gathered  round  the  Duke  of  Guise — he 
said,  with  the  pious  gravity  that  was  natural  to  him :  "  Gen- 
tlemen, the  king  is  dead ;  let  that  teach  us  how  to  live."  Re- 
turning to  his  quarters  as  soon  as  he  could  leave  the  king's 
chamber,  he  sat  in  deep  thought  before  the  fire,  his  tooth-pick, 
as  usual,  in  his  mouth,  and  his  feet  on  the  embers.  Fontaine, 
one  of  his  suite,  observing  his  abstraction,  caught  him  lay  the 
arm :  "  Sir,  you  have  been  wool-gathering  enough.  You  have 
burned  your  boots."  "Ah!  Fontaine,"  replied  the  admiral, 
"  only  a  week  ago  you  and  I  would  have  thought  ourselves 
well  off  with  the  loss  of  a  leg  each,  and  now  we  have  only  lost 
a  pair  of  boots.  It  is  a  good  exchange." 

The  Huguenots  were  accused  of  exulting  at  the  king's  death ; 
and  we  can  almost  excuse  them,  considering  what  they  had  suf- 
fered during  his  brief  reign.  Calvin  looked  upon  it  as  the  judg- 
ment of  God.  "  Did  you  ever  hear  or  read  of  any  thing  so 
opportune  as  the  death  of  the  little  king,"  he  said.  "Just 
when  there  was  no  remedy  for  our  extreme  evils,  God  sudden- 

*  Vie  de  Col'vjny,  p.  221. 


110  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ly  appeared  from  heaven,  and  he  who  had  pierced  the  eye  of 
the  father  struck  the  ear  of  the  son."  *  Beza  also  regarded  it 
in  the  same  light.  He  says,  the  sword  was  already  at  our 
throats  when  "  the  Lord  our  God  rose  up  and  carried  off  that 
miserable  boy  by  a  death  as  foul  as  it  was  unforeseen.  No 
royal  honors  were  paid  his  corpse,  and  the  enemy  of  the  Lu- 
therans was  buried  like  a  Lutheran."  f 

The  people  were  but  little  attached  to  Francis,  and  called 
him  "  the  king  without  vices,"  to  which  the  Huguenots  added, 
"  and  without  virtues."  He  was  in  fact  just  what  the  persons 
about  him  made  him.  He  was  educated  by  Jacques  Amyot, 
the  learned  translator  of  Plutarch,  in  an  age  when  translating 
had  not  become  a  mechanical  art.  He  had  always  been  a  sick- 
ly child,  and  there  is  a  letter  extant  of  his  father's,  from  which 
we  learn,  not  only  that  Henry  II.  loved  his  children,  but  also 
the  weakness  of  the  dauphin's  constitution.;];  Voltaire  very 
fairly  describes  him  as  a 

Faible  enfant  qui  de  Guise  aclorait  les  caprices, 
Et  dont  on  ignorait  et  les  vertus  ct  les  vices. 

Henriade. 

*  Calvin  to  Sturm,  16th  Dec.  1560.     Bonnet:  Lettresde  Calvin. 

t"Non  minus  focdo  quam  inexpectato  mortis  genere  sustulit.  Morttio 
nullus,  ut  regi,  honos  habitus.  .  .  .  Lutherano  more  sepultns  Lutherano- 
rura  hostis."  Beza  to  Bullinger,  22d  Jan.  15G1;  Baum's  Tkeodor  Beza, 
ii.  p.  18,  Svppl. 

%  Paris  :    Cabinet  histonquc,  ii.  p.  57. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  Ill 


NOTE. 

One  of  the  most  violent  of  the  satires  aimed  at  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
was  that  called  "The  Tiger,"  about  which  very  little  is  known.  The  author- 
ship is  doubtful,  the  title  disputed,  and  of  two  works  recently  brought  to 
light,  it  is  hard  to  say  which  is  the  original.  De  Thou  speaks  of  a  "  libellus 
cui  Tigridl  praefixus."  In  a  tract,  "  Religions  et  liegis  adversus  Calvini, 
Bezse  et  Ottomanni  conjuratorum  factionis  defensio  prima"  (8vo,  1562,  fol. 
17),  we  read  :  "  Hie  te,  Ottomanne,  excutere  incipio.  Scis  enim  ex  cujus  offi- 
cina  Tigris  prodiit,  liber  certe  tigridi  parente  dignissimus.  Tute  istius  libelli 
authorem.  .  .  ."  There  is  also  extant  a  letter  to  Hotmann  from  Sturm, 
who  was  rector  of  the  High  School  of  Strasburg  in  June,  1562  :  "  Ex  hoc 
genere  Tyyris,  immanis  ilia  bellua  quam  tu  hie  contra  cardinalis  existima- 
tionem  divulgare  curasti.''  But  if  these  two  authorities  are  conclusive  as 
to  Hotmann's  authorship,  they  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to  what  was  the  real 
title  of  the  satire,  and  which  is  the  original  of  two  contemporary  libels. 
To  the  researches  of  M.  Charles  Nodier  we  owe  the  discovery  of  a  manu- 
script poem  entitled  :  "Le  Tigrc,  Satire  sur  les  Gestes  memorables  des  Guy- 
sards"  (4to,  1561),  and  beginning  thus  : 

Jlechant  diable  acharne,  sepulcre  abominable, 
Spectacle  de  malheur,  vipere  epouvantable, 
Monstre,  tygre  enrage,  jusques  a  quand  par  toi 
Verrons-nous  abuser  le  jeune  age  du  roy  ? 

The  title  of  the  other  satire  is  "  Epistre  cnvoiee  au  Tygre  de  la  France," 
and  begins  thus:  —  "Tigre  enrage",  vipere  ve'nimeuse,  se'pulcre  d'abomina- 
tion,  spectacle  de  malheur,  jusques  a  quand  sera-ce  que  tu  abuseras  de  la 
jeunesse  de  nostre  roy  ?"  It  charges  the  Cardinal  with  incest,  but  the  "  sis- 
ter" was  a  sister-in-law,  Anne  of  Este,  wife  of  Duke  Francis  of  Guise :  "  Qui 
ne  voit  rien  de  saint  que  tu  ne  souilles,  rien  de  chaste  que  tn  ne  violes,  rien 
de  bon  que  tu  ne  gates.  L'honneur  de  ta  sceur  ne  se  pent  garantir  d'avec 
toy.  Tu  laisses  ta  robe,  tu  prens  1'epe'e  pour  Taller  voir.  Le  mari  ne  peut 
etre  si  vigilant  que  tu  ne  de9oives  sa  femme,"  etc.  This  was  first  printed  at 
Strasburg  in  1562,  and  it  was  for  selling  one  or  other  of  these  that  Martin 
Lhomme  was  put  to  death.  The  indictment  mentions  "  e'pitres  divers 
et  cartels  diffamatoires, "  but  no  verse — which  is  not  however  conclusive 
against  the  poem.  The  date  appears  adverse  to  the  claim  of  the  prose  sat- 
ire ;  but  both  versions  are  so  much  alike  as  to  suggest  community  of  origin. 
May  there  not  have  been  a  Latin  original,  and  may  not  Henri  Etienne, 
author  of  the  "  Discours  merveilleux,"  have  had  more  to  do  with  it  than  Fran- 
cis Hotmann,  professor  of  civil  law  at  Strasburg?  The  proclamation  is- 
sued against  it  by  the  Parliament  of  Paris  bears  date  13th  July,  1560. 
[See  Brunei:  " Manuel  du  ibraire," ii.  193.] 


112  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FRANCE  AT  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CHARLES  IX. 

[15GO.] 

Contrast — Power  of  King  and  Nobles — The  Provinces — Roads — Rate  of 
Traveling — Forests — Wild  Animals — Brigandage — Inns — League  of  the 
Loire  —  Agriculture  —  Condition  of  the  Peasantry  —  Rent  —  Serfage — 
Wages — Cost  of  Provisions — Food — Sumptuary  Laws — Social  Change* 
— Ignorance  of  the  People — Population  of  France — Taxation — Army  and 
Navy — The  Clergy — Superstitions — Justice — Punishments — Brutality  of 
Manners — Domestic  Architecture — Paris — Cities  of  France:  Orleans, 
Rouen,  Bordeaux,  Dieppe,  Lyons,  Boulogne,  Dijon,  Moulins,  and  St. 
Etienne. 

IK  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  France  was  not  the 
centralized,  orderly,  well-policed  country  which  the  traveler  of 
the  nineteenth  century  is  so  eager  to  visit,  and  which  he  leaves 
with  so  much  regret.  It  was  in  name  a  monarchy ;  but  un- 
less the  king  were  a  man  of  resolute  will,  he  became  a  mere 
pageant  in  the  state.  The  nobility  inherited  much  of  the 
haughty  turbulent  spirit  of  their  Frank  ancestors,  and  despite 
— if  not  in  consequence  of — what  Louis  XI.  had  done,  they 
still  looked  upon  the  sovereign  as  little  more  than  the  first 
among  peers,  primus  inter  pares,  paying  him  the  respect  due 
to  his  position  as  their  nominal  superior ;  but  resisting  him 
when  they  pleased,  and  only  kept  in  order  by  the  power  of 
rival  barons.  When  Montluc  summoned  the  mutinous  nobles 
of  the  South  to  return  to  their  allegiance,  and  obey  the  king, 
they  exclaimed :  "  What  king  ?  We  are  the  king.  The  one 
you  speak  of  is  a  baby  king :  we  will  give  him  the  rod,  and 
show  him  how  to  earn  his  living  like  other  people."  It  was 
very  much  in  this  spirit  that  the  house  of  Guise  behaved  to- 
ward Francis  II.  and  his  two  successors. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  113 

France  was  divided  into  numerous  provinces,*  partially  in- 
dependent under  their  own  governors  and  parliaments,  and 
with  hardly  more  sympathy  between  them  than  there  is  now 
between  Belgium  and  Holland.  In  almost  every  province  you 
heard  a  separate  dialect:  the  Normans  and  the  Gascons  were 
mutually  unintelligible,  and  the  inhabitant  of  Brittany  had  as 
little  in  common  with  the  dweller  in  Languedoc  as  the  Sussex 
boor  with  his  fellow-laborer  in  Picardy.  The  river  Loire  di- 
vided the  kingdom  into  two  parts — morally  as  well  as  geo- 
graphically. Even  to  this  day  the  traveler  observes  a  differ- 
ence between  the  people,  their  speech,  their  customs,  and  their 
dress,  immediately  he  crosses  that  boundary  line.  Great  part 
of  the  country  north  of  the  Loire  had  for  centuries  been  gov- 
erned by  traditionary  rules  similar  to  our  common  law ;  to  the 
south,  the  code  of  Justinian  had  never  fallen  into  complete  des- 
uetude ;  and  the  forms — shadowy  enough  sometimes — of  the 
Roman  municipalities  still  existed.  The  former  had  a  strong 
resemblance  to  England  -as  it  was  at  the  close  of  the  "Wars  of 
the  Roses ;  the  latter  reminded  the  Italian  traveler  of  his  native 
land.  On  both  sides  of  the  river  there  was  the  same  impa- 
tience of  that  central  authority  which  the  modern  Frenchman 
worships.  The  provincial  parliaments  registered  or  rejected 
the  king's  decrees  at  their  pleasure,  and  the  taxes  were  levied 
by  order  of  their  own  estates ;  self-government  in  form  more 
than  in  reality.  The  governor  of  many  a  petty  castle  would 
set  at  naught  the  king's  express  orders. 

Nothing  has  greater  power  to  amalgamate  the  various  parts 
of  an  empire,  and  smooth  away  differences,  than  good  roads. 
Three  (some  reckon  four)  royal  roads,  passing  through  the 
whole  length  of  France — the  great  highways  constructed  by 


*  The  following  were  the  twelve  leading  provinces  :  Normandy,  governed 
by  the  Dauphin  ;  Brittany,  by  the  Duke  of  Etampes ;  Gascony,  by  the  King 
of  Navarre  ;  Languedoc  and  the  Isle  of  France,  by  Constable  Montmoren- 
cy ;  Provence,  by  the  Count  of  Tende ;  Dauphiny  and  Champagne,  by 
Guise  ;  Lyonnais  and  the  Bourbonnais,  by  Marshal  St.  Andre1 ;  Burgundy, 
by  the  Duke  of  Nevers ;  and  Picardy,  by  Coligny. 

II 


114  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  Roman  conquerors  of  Gaul — were  kept  in  tolerable  con- 
dition, as  the  importance  of  such  great  arteries  reqiiired ;  but 
the  lateral  communications  were,  with  few  exceptions,  in  a 
most  unsatisfactory  state.  In  winter,  when  the  rivers  over- 
flowed their  banks,  or  the  snow  lay  deep,  large  towns  within 
a  few  miles  of  each  other  were  completely  cut  off  from  all  in- 
tercourse. It  often  happened  that  one  district  was  suffering 
from  famine,  while  its  neighbor  had  more  than  it  could  con- 
sume. The  wines  which  in  Anjou  and  the  Orleannais  sold  for 
one  sol  the  measure  and  even  less,  cost  twenty  and  twenty-four 
sols  in  Normandy  and  Picardy.  Sometimes  this  scarcity  and 
variation  in  price  may  have  been  occasioned  by  foolish  local 
restrictions  upon  the  importation  and  exportation  of  provis- 
ions ;  but  the  more  frequent  cause  was  the  want  of  branch 
roads — those  which  existed  being  often  mere  horse-tracks,  and 
as  impassable  in  bad  weather  as  the  famous  road  from  Balak- 
lava  to  Inkermann.  Catherine  do  Medicis,  "  flying  on  the 
wings  of  desire  and  maternal  affection,"  Avent  from  Paris  to 
Tours  in  three  days.*  Joan  of  Navarre,  traveling  with  "  extra- 
ordinary speed,"  spent  eighteen  days  on  the  road  from  Com- 
piegne  to  Paris.  It  took  eight  days  to  carry  the  news  of  the 
St.  Bartholomew  Massacre  to  Toulouse  along  one  of  the  best 
roads  in  France,  and  the  same  time  to  go  from  Mende  to  Paris. 
Thirty  years  later  it  took  Coryat  five  hours  to  travel  from 
Montreuil  to  Abbeville,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles,  his  carriage 
being  a  two-wheeled  cart  covered  with  an  awning  stretched 
over  thin  hoops,  not  unlike  that  still  used  by  our  village  car- 
riers. In  1560  L'Hopital  was  twelve  days  going  from  Nice  to 
St.  Vallier  (Drome),  and  he  too  was  hurrying  on  as  quickly 
as  possible.  Lippomano,  the  Venetian  embassador,  traveling 
on  urgent  business,  could  not  exceed  four  leagues  a  day. 
These  examples,  taken  from  various  parts  of  France,  and  from 
persons  of  different  degrees  of  social  rank,  show  decisively 
the  difficulties  of  communication. 

*  Mem.  de  Marguerite  de  Valois,  p.  18. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  115 

This  had  much  to  do  with  the  isolation  of  various  parts  of 
France.  In  the  sixteenth  century  nobody  traveled  who  could 
help  it.  To  journey  from  Paris  to  Toulouse,  now  a  matter  of 
a  few  hours  by  railway,  was  then  a  work  of  time  and  danger. 
Large  forests  were  numerous — of  twenty  miles  and  more  in 
circuit :  there  was  one  near  Blois  of  not  less  than  ninety  miles. 
Here  the  brown  bear,  the  wild  boar,  and  the  deer  still  roamed 
at  liberty.  In  the  forest  of  Landeac,  the  Viscount  Rohan  pre- 
served a  drove  of  six  hundred  wild  horses.  Wolves  would 
occasionally  issue  from  the  forests,  and  ravage  the  country  in 
packs,  as  they  still  do  in  Poland  and  Russia.*  In  1548  one  of 
these  packs  issued  from  the  forest  of  Orleans,  devouring  men, 
women,  and  children,  until  the  peasantry  rose  en  masse  to  ex- 
terminate them.f  But  worse  than  these  hungry  animals  were 
the  brigands  who  found  shelter  "  in  the  merry  greenwood," 
preying  upon  their  neighbors,  and  especially  upon  travelers. 
One  band  of  ruffians,  five  hundred  in  number,  roamed  the  coun- 
try, storming  towns  and  castles,  burning  villages  and  farm- 
steads, pillaging,  murdering,  and  committing  fouler  atrocities. 
Travelers  rarely  journeyed  alone  :  they  formed  into  a  sort  of 
caravan,  sometimes  escorted  by  soldiers,  hardly  less  to  be  fear- 
ed than  the  robbers  themselves.  If  the  adventurous  merchant 
passed  safely  through  forest  and  over  heath,  he  arrived  at  an 
inn  to  find  himself  carefully  classed.  If  he  journeyed  on  foot, 
he  could  not  dine  and  lodge  like  one  who  went  on  horseback. 
The  dinner  of  the  first  was  fixed  by  tariff  at  six  sols,  and 
the  bed  at  eight ;  the  latter  paid  respectively  twelve  and  twen- 
ty. In  many  cases  the  traveler  had  to  carry  his  bed  and  food 
with  him,  or  he  would  have  to  go  without. 

The  rivers,  now  so  full  of  busy  life,  were  rarely  disturbed 
by  oar  or  sail ;  and  up  to  the  reign  of  Charles  IX.  the  mer- 
chants trading  along  the  Loire  were  forced  to  combine  into  a 
hanse  or  league  in  order  to  protect  their  property  from  plun- 

*  There  were  rewards  for  killing  these  beasts :  5  sols  for  a  wolf,  10  sols 
for  a  she-wolf.  MS.  penes  auct. 

t  Du  Tillet :  Recueil  des  Roys,  ii  p.  192  ;  Cfironique  (4to.  1618). 


116  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

der  and  excessive  toll.  They  entered  into  treaties  with  the  riv- 
erain Rob  Roys,  paying  an  annual  black-mail  which  saved  them 
from  still  greater  exactions.*  It  was  rare  to  find  a  bridge 
without  fort  and  bar  which  none  could  pass,  by  land  or  water, 
without  payment  of  pontage. 

The  country  was  better  cultivated  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  the  rude  implements  employed ;  but  then,  far 
more  than  now,  the  fields  were  rarely  divided  by  hedges.  In 
Beauce,  the  traveler  might  journey  for  many  a  long  mile 
through  a  fertile  district,  where  the  corn  rippled  in  golden 
waves  beneath  the  summer  sun ;  but  there  was  no  plantation, 
scarcely  a  tree  upon  which  to  rest  the  weary  eye.  Few  signs 
of  life  were  visible  from  the  highway :  the  peasants,  for  so 
many  centuries  the  victims  of  foreign  or  domestic  war,  had 
wisely  built  their  huts  in  the  hollows  and  valleys,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible removed  from  the  routes  of  the  brigands  who  composed 
the  armies  of  those  days.f  Here  and  there  a  moated  grange, 
or  isolated  farm-house,  was  visible,  with  its  cluster  of  fruit- 
trees,  a  greener  oasis  in  the  surrounding  plain ;  but  it  was  en- 
closed with  a  high  wall. 

The  lot  of  the  agricultural  population — of  farmers  as  well 
as  of  laborers — was  a  hard  one.  Serfage  still  existed  in  many 
places,  and  the  ploughman  or  the  hedger  could  no  more  wan- 
der in  search  of  employment,  or  higher  wages,  than  the  low- 
roofed  church  in  which  he  was  christened,  where  he  was  mar- 
ried, and  beneath  whose  shadow  his  weary  limbs  would  rest 
at  last.  Rent  was  usually  paid  in  kind  or  in  service.  If  in 
kind,  it  was  a  certain  share  of  the  produce,  which  in  Brittany 
was  a  twelfth.J  But  the  great  influx  of  gold  and  silver  con- 

*  MS.  penes  anct. 

t  S'il  lui  restc  cncor  de  sa  pauvre  cueillette, 

Quelque  petit  amas  que  sa  femme  discrette 
Aura  par  un  long  temps,  pour  1'aider  en  saison, 
Reserve  chichement  au  coin  de  sa  maison, 
Le  soldat  lui  survient,  pire  que  n'est  I'brage.   ' 

Le  Contr1  Empire  des  Sciences.     Lyon,  1599. 

J  "Un  douzieme  de  la  prisaie  du  produit.'*    Montdl MSS.  i.  250. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  117 

sequent  upon  the  discovery  of  America  was  gradually  intro- 
ducing money  rents,  which,  however,  were  so  variable  and  un- 
certain, that  no  average  appears  possible.  In  Auvergne,  in 
1514,  we  find  it  as  high  as  seven  sols  an  acre,  and  in  1568  as 
low  as  four  deniers  and  a  measure  (setier)  of  seigle.  Although 
the  feudal  superior  was  gradually  passing  into  the  modern 
landlord,  serfage  was  so  tenacious  of  life  that  it  existed  more 
than  two  centuries  longer.  Only  two  years  before  the  out- 
break of  the  Revolution  the  serfs  of  twenty-three  communi- 
ties belonging  to  the  abbey  of  Luxeul  refused  to  be  emanci- 
pated, choosing  to  remain  as  they  were  rather  than  pay  the 
moderate  fine  required  for  their  enfranchisement.  A  few 
months  later  the  serfs  of  Trepot  had  consented  to  pay  the  sum 
demanded  by  their  lord,  when  the  Revolution  came  and  freed 
them  gratuitously.* 

The  agricultural  population  had  been  almost  untouched 
by  that  spirit  of  progress  which  had  been  felt  in  the  great 
cities  and  towns,  and  had  led  the  way  to  the  revival  of  relig- 
ion. Their  condition  was  hardly  better  than  in  the  days  of 
Louis  XII.,  when  the  farmer  was  at  times  compeUed  to 
plough  his  land  by  night,  lest  the  tax-gatherers,  who  swarmed 
like  locusts,  should  come  and  seize  his  cattle.  The  peasants 
in  their  remonstrance  added  piteously :  "  And  when  they  are 
taken,  we  yoke  ourselves  to  the  plough."  Their  houses  were 
like  the  cabins  still  to  be  met  with  in  the  south  and  west  of 
Ireland,  and  in  the  remoter  parts  of  Scotland.  In  Brittany 
the  traveler  may  still  see  many  such  dwellings — clay  or  mud- 
built,  covered  with  turf  or  rushes  from  the  neighboring  pool. 
The  beaten  earth  was  the  floor,  a  man  could  rarely  stand  up- 
right beneath  its  low  roof.  In  that  single  room,  often  win- 
dowless,  the  whole  family  huddled  together.  They  were  with- 
out the  commonest  comforts  now  rarely  absent  from  the  labor- 
er's cottage.  The  rate  of  labor  was  not  high,  and  most  of 
the  payments  were  in  kind.  A  laboring  man  received 

*  MS.  penes  auct. 


118  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

twelve  deniers  a  day  and  a  woman  six:  this  was  at  a  time 
when  a  dozen  eggs  cost  eight  deniers,  a  bushel  of  turnips  four 
deniers,  a  fowl  from  two  to  six  sols,  a  calf  five  livres,  a  sheep 
twenty-four  sols,  a  fat  pig  three  livres,  and  an  ox,  three  or 
four  years  old,  ten  livres.  The  setier  or  twelve  bushels  of 
wheat  sold  for  twenty  sols,  the  same  quantity  of  rye  for  ten, 
of  barley  for  eight,  and  of  oats  for  five.  These  are  but  uncer- 
tain data  on  which  to  calculate  the  purchasing  power  of  a 
man's  wages,  for  at  that  time  prices  varied  considerably  more 
in  different  localities  and  from  year  to  year  than  they  do  now.* 
Black  unleavened  bread — the  "  damper  "  of  the  gold  diggings 
—formed  the  principal  article  of  food  among  the  poorer  peo- 
ple, and  was  made  of  rye,  barley,  or  buckwheat.f  Maize 
appears  to  have  been  used  more  for  cattle  than  for  men. 
About  thirteen  years  before  the  time  of  which  we  are  treat- 
ing, the  poor  of  La  Mans  supported  themselves  during  a  famine 
upon  acorn  bread.  The  usual  meat  was  pork  or  bacon — a 
diet  which  is  supposed  to  have  contributed  to  the  virulence 
of  the  leprosy  in  earlier  days,  and  hence  a  languayeur  had 
been  appointed,  whose  sole  business  it  was  to  examine  the  pigs' 
tongues  for  leprosy  spots.  The  odious  gabelle  made  salt  so 
dear  that  the  farmer  had  often  to  sell  one-half  of  a  pig  to 
procure  the  means  of  pickling  the  other  half. 

The  people  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  gross  and  unclean 

*  From  a  list  of  delicacies  supplied  in  December,  1578,  to  the  wife  of 
Charles  de  Vienne,  Governor  of  Burgundy,  when  in  childbed,  we  learn 
that  a  Mayence  ham  cost  50  sols,  Italian  sausages  15  sols  a  lb.,  olives  12 
sols,  an  ounce  of  musk  18  crowns  of  the  sun,  fine  white  sugar  23  sols  a  lb., 
inferior  sort  22  sols,  dried  currants  12  sols,  and  preserved  pears  3  sols.  At 
Mende,  in  15G8,  a  quintal  of  hay  at  20  sols,  and  of  straw  at  8  sols,  were 
reckoned  very  dear ;  the  horse-soldier'^  pay  being  arranged  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  he  could  get  those  quantities  of  hay  and  straw  for  8  and  4  sols,  and 
a  setier  of  oats  for  25.  (L'Abbe  Bosse  :  Le  Gevaudan  pendant  la  derniere 
Guerre  civile.  Mende,  18G4.)  At  Toulouse  a  soldier's  food  cost  4  sols 
a  day,  probably  equivalent  to  rather  more  than  20  sols  or  a  franc  now. 
About  this  time  the  salary  of  a  president  in  the  Toulouse  Parliament  was 
100  sols  a  day,  and  of  his  huissier  or  beadle  30  sols. 

t  "  Sans  ce  grain  (Ic  sarrasin)  qui  nous  est  venti  depuis  GO  ans,  les  pan- 
vres  gens  auraient  beaucoup  a  souffrir."  Contes  d'Eutrapel. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  119 

eaters,  delighting  in  viands  we  should  now  relegate  to  the 
tables  of  the  Esquimaux.  Thus  they  would  eat  dog-fish,  por- 
poise,* and  whale,  as  well  as  herons,  cormorants,  bitterns, 
cranes,  and  storks.  Champier  saw  on  the  table  of  Francis  I. 
"  a  pudding  made  of  the  blgod,  fat,  and  entrails  of  the  sea- 
calf."  Frogs  f  fricasseed,  snails  boiled,  and  tortoises  stewed 
in  their  shells  were  among  the  "  dainty  dishes  "  of  this  period. 
To  wash  such  coarse  viands  down  the  people  drank  so 
much  beer  that  the  tax  on  it  produced  two-thirds  more  than 
the  tax  upon  wine.  The  beer  was  sweet,  for  hops  (if  intro- 
duced) were  scarce ;  and  it  was  "  doctored  "  by  the  addition 
of  aromatics,  spice,  butter,  honey,  apples,  bread-crumbs,  etc. 
A  taste  for  unsophisticated  liquors  is  one  of  the  results  of 
advancing  civilization. 

These  were  the  times  of  sumptuary  laws  and  other  reg- 
ulations to  preserve  the  distinction  of  ranks,  and  fill  the  treas- 
ury at  the  expense  of  human  vanity.  Custom,  quite  as 
much  as  law,  regulated  the  costumes  of  the  different  classes, 
from  the  silks  and  the  scarlet  robes  of  the  nobles  to  the  blue 
serge  of  the  laborer.  But  on  fete  and  gala  days,  which 
were  more  numerous  than  now,  the  variety  of  costumes  was 
strikingly  picturesque,  especially  where  the  inhabitants  of 
different  provinces  met  together.  The  tendency  of  modern 
civilization  to  bring  every  thing  to  one  monotonous  uniformity 
has  robbed  us  of  this  variety.  It  still  lingers  here  and  there 
in  France,  where  the  women  with  honest  pride  cling  to  the 
costume  peculiar  to  their  calling,  while  the  men  have  become 
lost  in  the  common  herd.J  No  bourgeois  could  build  what 
sort  of  house  he  pleased ;  nor,  when  built,  was  he  free  to 
decorate  it  as  he  liked.  Even  the  number  of  steps  up  to  the 

*  "  Celui-la  memo  quo  nous  avons  en  de'liccs  es  jours  maigres."  Belon  : 
Observations,  etc.  \~>(\'.\. 

t  Champier  wonders  how  people  could  cat  such  an  insect. 

%  Without  going  to  the  Pyrenees,  or  even  to  Burgundy,  the  English  trav- 
eler may  still  see  relics  of  the  old  time  in  the  high  cap  of  the  Xormande  bonne 
and  in  the  dress  of  the  fishing-classes  in  the  Pas  de  Calais, 'where  the 
girl  who  ventures  to  wear  a  bonnet  is  looked  upon  as  lost. 


120  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

door  was  regulated  by  law.  The  house  might  be  painted 
with  certain  colors,  but  gilding  was  strictly  prohibited.* 
In  1867  there  is  scarcely  a  mechanic  so  poor  that  his  wife 
can  not  boast  of  a  silk  gown,  but,  three  hundred  years  ago,  no 
woman,  below  the  rank  of  duchess,  except  "  dames  et  demoi- 
selles de  maison  "  living  "  a,  la  campagne  et  hors  des  villes," 
could  wear  any  silk  except  as  trimming,  and  then  only  under 
certain  restrictions,  so  that  the  "fashion"  should  not  cost 
more  than  sixty  sols  for  each  dress.f  Nay,  worse  than  that, 
a  fine  of  two  hundred  livres  parisis  awaited  any  woman  who 
should  venture  to  wear  a  vertugale  or  hooped  petticoat  more 
than  an  ell  and  a  half  round — a  restriction  which  a  modern 
house-maid  would  think  very  tyrannical.  Although  silk  was 
not  so  scarce  as  these  regulations  would  seem  to  imply,  cer- 
tain manufactures  of  it  were  so  rare  that  historians  record 
that  Henry  II.  wore  silk  stockings  at  his  coronation.  Thirty 
years  later  such  an  article  of  dress  was  still  regarded  as  an 
extravagant  and  wicked  luxury.J  The  Ordonnance  of  Orleans 
(1560)  forbade  the  use  of  perfumery  among  certain  classes, 
who  seem  to  have  had  no  other  resource  but  to  shut  up  a 
particular  kind  of  apple  in  their  wardrobes  in  order  to  im- 
pregnate their  dresses  with  its  odor.  Sumptuary  laws  regu- 
lated the  meals.  By  the  edict  of  January,  1563,  Charles  IX. 
forbade  more  than  three  courses,  no  course  to  consist  of  more 
than  six  dishes,  each  containing  one  kind  of  viand.  The 
entertainer  who  infringed  this  impracticable  law  was  fined 
200  livres  for  the  first  offense,  and  400  for  the  second ;  the 


*  The  Ordonnance  of  Orleans  (1560)  forbids  the  "manans  et  habitans 
de  nos  villages  toutes  sortes  de  dorures  sur  plomb,  fer,  ou  bois." 

t  St.  Allais :  Andenne  France,  i.  558,  gives  extracts  from  the  edicts  of 
1561. 

}  Qui  vit  jamais  porter  bas  des  chausscs  de  soye 

De  8  ou  10  escus,  au  lieu  d'avoir  du  pain 
Pour  les  pauvres  .... 

....  On  oust  veu  femme 
Porter  dessus  son  ventre  un  viiroir  en  1'e'glise. 

Artus  Desire':  Le  Desordre  de  France.     Paris,  1577. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  121 

guests  who  did  not  turn  informers  against  their  hosts  were 
fined  forty  livres ;  while  the  unfortunate  cook,  who  merely 
obeyed  his  master's  orders,  was  fined  ten  livres  and  imprison- 
ed for  a  fortnight  with  only  bread  and  water  for  his  fare. 
For  a  second  offense  the  penalty  was  doubled ;  and  if  he 
transgressed  a  third  time,  he  was  scourged  and  banished  from 
the  town.  Experience  has  shown  legislators  the  impossibility 
of  restraining  luxury  by  sumptuary  laws ;  yet  the  states- 
men of  the  fifteenth  century  may  be  excused  for  attempting 
thus  clumsily  to  check  the  extravagant  fashions  of  the  day. 
Brantome  describes,  with  all  the  minuteness  of  a  modern 
reporter  at  a  city  dinner,  the  particulars  of  a  banquet  given 
by  the  Vidame  of  Chartres.  The  ceiling  of  the  dining-hall, 
which  was  painted  to  represent  the  sky,  suddenly  opened, 
and  clouds  laden  with  dishes  descended  upon  the  tables. 
The  same  contrivance  was  used  to  remove  the  dishes. 
During  the  dessert  an  artificial  storm  poured  down  for  half 
an  hour  a  rain  of  perfumed  water  and  a  hail  of  sugar-plums. 
One  great  social  change  took  place  about  this  period.  "  The 
women,"  writes  L'Hopital  to  De  Thou,  "  are  now  seen  boldly 
sitting  down  at  table  with  the  men."  Before  that  time,  it 
was  the  custom  for  the  husband  only  to  sit  with  his  guests, 
while  the  mistress  of  the  house  attended  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  table  was  served.  Christopher  de  Thou,  father  of 
the  historian,  was  the  first  person,  not  of  royal  or  noble 
blood,  who  rode  in  a  carriage  in  Paris.  Until  then  there  were 
only  two  in  use  at  the  court — the  queen's  and  that  belonging 
to  Diana,  natural  daughter  of  Henry  II.  Carriages  were  rare- 
ly employed  for  traveling  purposes :  the  roads  were,  for  the 
most  part,  too  bad  for  vehicles  much  less  rude  than  the  coun- 
try wains  that  bore  the  produce  of  the  farm  to  market.  Those 
who  could  not  afford  the  pomp  of  litters  rode  on  horseback : 
the  ladies  sometimes  on  a  pillion  behind  a  servant,*  but  fre- 
quently astride,  like  the  men.  Catherine  de  Medicis  intro- 

*  De  Thou  describes  his  mother  "in  eqtio  post  tergum  sessoris  domestic! 
tapeti  et  stapedoe  insidens." 


122  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

duced  the  side-saddle.  In  1571  a  royal  permission  was  grant- 
ed for  "  coches  a  la  mode  d'ltalie  "  to  go  from  Paris  to  Orleans 
— a  privilege  soon  extended  to  other  cities  of  France  "  pour  le 
soulagement  de  personnes."*  In  1562  forty-six  post-horses 
were  registered  in  Paris,  the  hire  seems  to  have  been  twenty 
sols  each  a  day. 

The  dispatches  of  Killigrew,  embassador  to  the  court  of 
France  about  this  time,  present  a  striking  picture  of  the  mis- 
ery and  ignorance  of  the  lower  classes.  On  the  15th  Novem- 
ber, 1559,  he  writes:  "It  is  very  secretly  reported  that  the 
French  king  is  become  a  leper,  and  for  fear  of  his  coming  to 
Chatelherault  the  people  have  (it  is  said)  removed  their  chil- 
dren ;  and  of  late  there  be  certain  of  them  wanting  about 
Tours,  which  can  not  be  heard  of,  and  there  is  commandment 
given  that  there  shall  not  be  any  pursuit  made  for  the  same." 
A  horrible  light  is  thrown  on  these  last  words  by  a  letter  of 
the  28th  January,  1560:  "The  20th  of  this  present  month 
there  was  a  man  executed  here  at  Blois,  who  lately,  with  a 
companion,  traveled  abroad  in  the  country  to  seek  fair  chil- 
dren, to  use  their  blood  for  curing  of  a  disease  which,  they 
said,  the  king  had :  alleging  that  they  had  a  command  so  to 
do.  The  one  of  them  used  to  go  before  to  make  search  for 
them,  and  the  other  came  after  to  ask  if  such  a  man  had  been 
there  for  such  a  purpose  :  whereupon  the  people  made  lamen- 
tation for  their  children."  It  was  of  course  only  an  impudent 
means  of  extorting  money. 

The  population  of  France  at  the  accession  of  Charles  IX. 
has  been  variously  estimated,  but  it  probably  did  not  much 
(if  at  all)  exceed  fifteen  millions,  of  whom  almost  one-third 
lived  in  towns.  Yet  complaints  of  over-population  were  fre- 
quent; and  La  Noue,  speaking  of  the  multitude  of  inhab- 
itants before  the  religious  wars,  says :  "  They  swarm  !"  They 
paid  in  taxation  a  greater  proportional  amount  than  is  con- 
tributed by  their  more  numerous  and  fortunate  posterity  un- 

*  Corrozet :  Anliquites  de  Paris,  p.  210  (ed.  1577). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  123 

der  the  second  empire.  Finance  was  in  its  infancy,  and 
taxes  were  levied  so  as  to  produce  the  greatest  amount  of 
vexation  to  the  payer  and  the  smallest  result  to  the  royal 
treasury.  At  the  end  of  the  century  —  forty  years  later 
than  the  period  at  which  we  have  arrived — the  duties  and 
aids  were  farmed  for  232  millions  of  livres,  equivalent  to 
£42,000,000  sterling.* 

Taxes  Avere  imposed  upon  no  regular  plan,  and  whatever 
arrangement  was  made,  it  was  liable  to  be  broken  through  by 
the  "  good  pleasure  "  of  the  king.  This  was  especially  the  case 
in  the  reign  of  Francis  I.,  whose  subjects,  when  groaning  un- 
der oppressive  charges  of  tallies,  taillons,  aides,  subsides,  im- 
pots,  and  gabelle,  looked  back  and  longed  for  the  good  old 
times  of  Louis  XII.  Francis  squandered  his  income  in  the 
most  reckless  manner ;  every  body  plundered  the  national  ex- 
chequer, especially  his  favorites  and  mistresses.  So  great  were 
the  expenses  of  the  marriage  (the  ndces  sal'ees)  of  his  niece 
Joan  of  Albret  with  the  Duke  of  Cloves  in  1541,  that  to  make 
up  the  deficiency  he  not  only  extended  the  gabelle  or  salt  tax 
to  several  of  the  southern  provinces,  but  doubled  it  in  those 
where  it  already  existed,  expecting  that  the  returns  would  be 
doubled  also.  In  this  he  was  disappointed,  and  new  sources  of 
revenue  had  to  be  invented.  The  coinage  was  debased,  raising 
the  value  of  the  silver  mark  from  £165  to  £185  ;f  a  multitude 
of  offices  was  created,  all  to  be  had  for  money ;  judgeships 
were  made  venal,  lotteries  were  established,  additional  decimes 
imposed  on  the  clergy  ;  J  the  churches  were  robbed  of  their  or- 
naments of  gold,  silver,  and  precious  gems ;  §  loans  were  raised 

*  Calculating  the  actual  value  of  the  livre  tournois  at  francs  4-50,  ac- 
cording to  the  quantity  of  corn  it  represented,  on  the  average  of  frs.  31-71 
the  seder. 

t  In  1540  the  marc  d'or  (=  8  onces,  or  244-75  grammes)  was  worth  £1G5 
7s.  Gd.  of  our  money ;  in  15GI  it  had  risen  to  £185,  and  in  1;V73  to  £200. 

J  The  sol  par  lime,  seems  to  have  been  the 'constitutional  tax,  which  Fran- 
cis raised  to  two  sols.  The  Traicte  des  Aydes,  by  L.  du  Crot,  may  be  con- 
sulted with  advantage. 

§  Francis  I.  took  away  the  silver  rails  that  had  been  set  by  Louis  XI. 
round  the  tomb  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours. 


124  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

by  means  of  rentes  or  stock  offered  for  sale  at  the  Hotel-dc- 
Ville  of  Paris,  and  the  citizens  were  expected  to  become  pur- 
chasers. Eightscore  thousand  crowns  were  thus  borrowed 
au  denier  douze;  that  is  to  say,  at  8£  per  cent.  The  super- 
intendents of  finance  were  bound  to  procure  money,  even  if 
they  had  to  borrow  it  on  their  own  security ;  and,  when  all  oth- 
er means  failed,  and  a  large  sum  was  wanted  instantly  for  some 
royal  caprice  or  some  new  mistress,  a  financier  was  hanged 
and  his  property  confiscated.  Such  measures  necessarily  dis- 
contented every  body  and  profited  none  but  a  few  persons  at 
court ;  yet  by  some  means  or  other  Francis  I.  contrived  to 
leave  four  millions  of  livres  in  the  treasury,  which  Henry  II., 
aided  by  Diana  of  Poitiers,  soon  squandered.  The  new  king 
took  one  important  step  toward  financial  accountability  by  di- 
viding the  kingdom  into  seventeen  generalites,  each  of  which 
was  farmed  at  a  very  high  rate.*  Under  his  two  successors, 
the  government  speculated  in  French  vanity  by  making  titles 
of  nobility  purchasable.  Pasquier  thought  this  an  "inex- 
haustible source  of  supply,"  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
made  any  large  return  to  the  treasury.  The  "deficit"  became 
periodical,  and  to  fill  up  the  gulf  the  taxes  (especially  the  ga- 
belle)  were  augmented,!  financiers  were  prosecuted  and  heav- 
ily mulcted,  many  useless  offices  were  created  on  purpose  to  be 
sold,  and  new  loans  were  contracted.  Among  other  devices 
— all  of  them  very  startling  to  a  modern  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer— was  a  proposal  to  appoint  13,000  sergens,  or  baillies. 
Pasquier  hopes  this  will  not  be  done,  for  "  it  would  eclipse 
the  memory  of  the  11,000  devils  spoken  of  in  the  time  of  our 
grandfathers." 

The  taxation  fell  very  heavily  on  the  Tiers  etat,  and  partic- 
ularly upon  the  agricultural  classes.  The  towns-people,  the 

*  Du  Grot :   Traicte  des  Aydes,  ad  fin. 

+  The  salt  tax,  oppressive  enough  by  itself,  was  made  more  so  by  the  way 
in  which  it  was  levied.  It  sometimes  reached  25  sols  the  pound,  and 
purchasers  were  forced  to  buy  a  certain  quantity,  and  renew  their  store  ev- 
ery three  months,  whether  it  was  consumed  or  not.  Bernard  Palissy  gives  a 
curious  account  of  the  working  of  this  tax. 


MASSAGES  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  125 

bourgeoisie,  were  to  some  degree  protected  by  charters  and 
privileges,  and  had  an  organization  of  their  own  by  which  the 
taxes  were  levied.  They  were  exempt  from  foreign  garrisons, 
elected  their  own  officers  (with  the  exception  of  the  provost 
of  the  merchants),  enrolled  a  citizen  guard,  and  had  the  right 
to  barricade  the  streets  and  shut  their  gates,  even  against  the 
king.*  No  charters  or  securities  guaranteed  the  peasant  from 
injustice.  Michieli,  writing  in  1561,  describes  the  oppression 
in  some  provinces  (especially  in  Normandy  and  Picardy)  as 
so  excessive,  that  the  peasantry  were  forced  to  abandon  the 
country.f  The  burdens  were  the  more  severe  and  invidious, 
that  while  the  seigneurs  mercilessly  exacted  their  rents,  dues, 
corvees,  customs,  etc. ,  they  contributed  nothing  to  the  state 
beyond  what  they  gave  of  their  free-will  as  a  gift.  Clergy, 
nobility,  soldiers,  members  of  the  king's  household,  and  of  the 
high  courts  of  parliament,  school-masters,  officers  of  finance, 
free  cities  (villes  de  franchise)  like  Paris,  and  noble  cities 
(villes  nobles)  like  Troyes,  were  all  exempt ;  not  that  they  did 
not  contribute  to  the  revenue,  but  only  so  much  as  they  chose 
to  assess  themselves.  In  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  the  French 
clergy,  with  the  consent  of  the  pope,  agreed  to  pay  a  decime, 
or  one-tenth  of  their  revenue,  which  in  the  next  reign  was 
doubled.  At  Poissy,  in  1561,  they  entered  into  an  arrange- 
ment to  pay  sixteen  hundred  thousand  livres  annually,  on  con- 
dition of  their  future  exemption  from  all  other  taxes.  Consid- 
ering that  they  possessed  about  one-third  of  the  landed  and 
house-property  in  France,  this  was  but  a  small  contribution 
to  the  necessities  of  the  crown.  The  yearly  rental  of  the 
whole  kingdom  has  been  estimated,  on  what  are  indeed  very 
vague  data,  to  have  amounted  to  fifteen  millions  of  crowns, 
of  which  six  belonged  to  the  clergy  J  and  one  and  a  half  to  the 

*  A  relic  of  this  custom  still  exists  in  the  practice  of  closing  Temple  Bar 
on  the  accession  of  a  new  sovereign. 

t  "  Sono  stnti  forzati  ad  abbandonnar  il  paesi."  Relazione,  iii.  (Ser.  I.) 
p.  423.  Du  Crot  confirms  this  :  Traicte  cks  Aydes,  p.  114. 

t  La  Noue  sets  it  down  at  twenty  million  francs. 


126  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

king.  The  exports  of  corn,  wine,  salt,  and  wood  were  valued 
at  twelve  millions  of  francs,  more  than  Spain  received  from 
her  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru. 

The  army  and  the  navy  are  the  great  causes  of  expenditure 
in  our  days ;  but  in  the  sixteenth  century  both  were  so  insig- 
nificant that  their  burden  was  hardly  appreciable.  France 
has  now  about  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  men  under  arms, 
but  in  1560  the  army  barely  amounted  to  20,000  men,  and 
these  were  so  scattered,  and  under  so  many  local  restrictions, 
that  the  crown  could  not  collect  10,000  men  without  the  aid 
of  mercenaries.  Although  the  main  strength  consisted  in  cav- 
alry, the  importance  of  infantry  was  beginning  to  be  felt. 
They  were  long  looked  upon  as  a  very  inferior  arm ;  indeed, 
the  feeling  is  not  yet  extinct  in  some  countries ;  but  every  im- 
provement in  fire-arms  so  increased  the  power  of  the  foot-sol- 
dier, that  far-sighted  men  began  to  see  that  the  victory  must 
ultimately  remain  with  the  general  who  could  make  the  best 
use  of  his  infantry.  The  artillery  was  rude  and  awkward ; 
the  guns  were  clumsily  mounted,  and  the  balls  rarely  fitted 
the  barrel.  With  all  these  defects  it  must  not  excite  surprise 
that  on  an  average  they  could  not  be  discharged  more  than 
once  in  five  minutes.  When  fixed  in  battery,  they  might  be 
trusted  to  breach  the  wall  of  a  city  or  castle,  where  the  object 
of  the  engineer  seems  to  have  been  to  expose  as  much  as  pos- 
sible of  his  defenses  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  The  cannons 
were  almost  utterly  useless  in  the  field  against  a  body  of  men 
in  motion ;  but  the  noise  they  made  proved  at  times  as  ef- 
fectual in  dispiriting  the  enemy  as  their  accuracy  of  fire. 
The  army  was  officered  by  the  nobility :  a  commoner  might 
rise  to  be  a  sergeant,  but  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  ob- 
tain a  commission.  It  was  partly  on  this  ground  of  unpaid 
military  service  that  the  nobles  claimed  exemption  from  tax- 
ation. 

The  French  navy  existed  but  in  name.  When  Francis  I. 
was  at  war  -frith  England  he  brought  twenty-five  galleys  from 
the  Mediterranean  into  the  Channel,  the  Genoese  lent  him  ten 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  127 

vessels,  a"nd  with  others  in  his  harbors  he  mustered  a  fleet  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  ships  of  large  tonnage,  and  sixty  small 
ones.  One  great  ship  of  a  hundred  guns,  called  the  Caracon, 
had  been  built,  but  it  never  put  to  sea,  being  burned  in  har- 
bor. We  are  all  familiar  with  the  uncouth  yet  strangely  pict- 
uresque forms  of  those  ships,  standing  high  out  of  the  wa- 
ter, with  their  castles  at  each  end,  and  looking  as  if  a  breath 
of  wind  would  blow  them  over.  They  were  slow  and  bad  sail- 
ers, deficient  in  accommodation  for  their  two  crews — the  sol- 
diers to  fight  and  the  seamen  to  sail  them.  The  navy  was  not 
quite  so  exclusive  and  aristocratic  as  the  army ;  but  if  seamen 
worked  the  ship,  landsmen  as  captains  and  admirals  command- 
ed it,  as  they  did,  until  comparatively  a  late  period,  in  our 
own  service. 

The  clergy  were  the  most  wealthy  body  in  the  state.  La 
Noue  reckons  one  hundred  episcopal  and  archiepiscopal  sees 
in  France,  650  abbeys  belonging  to  the  orders  of  St.  Bernard 
and  St.  Benedict,  all  "  beautified  with  good  kitchens  "  and 
2500  priories.  Jean  Bouchet  has  left  a  curious  picture  of  the 
clergy  at  the  early  part  of  the  century,  and  there  are  no 
grounds  for  believing  that  they  had  at  all  improved  in  the  in- 
terval before  his  death  in  1555.  He  complains  that  the  candi- 
dates for  holy  orders  possess  all  the  qualities  not  wanted,  and 
none  that  are.  Of  the  cardinals  and  bishops  he  says,  they 
ought  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  be 

Du  peuple  la  lumiere, 
Le  bon  cxemple  et  la  clarte  premiere. 

Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  declared  in  a  sermon  preach- 
ed in  1559,  that  out  of  ten  priests  there  were  eight  who 
could  not  read.  .We  may  charitably  suppose  that  he  exag- 
gerates. 

The  clergy  by  no  means  dwelt  together  in  unity,  and  their 
quarrels  became  such  a  nuisance  that,  in  1542,  the  bishops 
were  commanded  to  put  a  stop  to  the  practice  of  delivering 
abusive  sermons  from  the  pulpit.  The  order  would  seem  to 


128  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

have  been  ineffectual,  for,  in  1556,  the  priests  were  forbidden 
to  preach  unless  they  had  first  submitted  their  sermons  to  the 
diocesan.  This  regulation  may  have  been  partly  intended  as  a 
watch  over  heretical  opinions ;  but  in  the  same  year  the  proc- 
urator-general issued  an  order  of  Parliament  against  all  such 

~  O 

as  had  indulged  in  "  abusive  language "  in  the  pulpit.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  sixteenth  century  was  one  of  singular  excite- 
ment in  every  respect.  Society  was  in  travail.  The  clergy 
shared  in  the  general  restlessness,  and  the  press  not  being 
quick  enough,  they  resorted  to  their  pulpits  to  refute  an  an- 
tagonist, and  preached  sermons  instead  of  writing  leading  ar- 
ticles. They  spared  nobody  Avho  attacked  them,  or  did  not 
support  them.  A  friar  of  the  order  of  Minims,  Jean  de  Haas 
by  name,  preached  in  his  Advent  sermons  (Dec.,  1561)  so  vio- 
lently against  the  edict  of  that  year,  and  the  king  and  queen- 
mother  for  sanctioning  it,  that  the  provost  was  ordered  to  ar- 
rest him  "  early  in  the  morning,"  and  take  him  bound  and 
gagged  to  St.  Germains ;  but  the  citizens,  immediately  they 
heard  of  his  capture,  marched  out  in  crowds  to  the  royal 
residence,  and,  irritated  with  this  "  indignity,"  as  Pasquier 
terms  it,  demanded  the  preacher  back.  The  king  was  forced 
to  give  him  up,  and  Jean  returned  in  triumph  to  Paris, "  as  if 
he  were  a  great  prince."  The  next  day  he  celebrated  his  de- 
liverance by  a  solemn  procession  to  the  Church  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew.* At  the  beginning  of  1572  Sorbin,  the  king's  preach- 
er, declaimed  violently  against  the  king  because  he  would  not 
give  immediate  orders  for  murdering  the  Huguenots,  and  pub- 
licly exhorted  the  Duke  of  Anjou  to  undertake  the  task  him- 
self, holding  out  hopes  to  him  of  the  primogeniture,  as  Jacob 
prevailed  over  Esau.  But  the  heretics  could  be  as  violent  as 
the  orthodox.  The  Huguenot  ministers  poured  the  rankest 
abuse  on  what  John  Knox  called  "  the  monstrous  regiment  of 
women;"'  and  some  of  them — unless  they  are  greatly  belied 
— even  went  so-  far  as  to  preach  regicide.  The  minister  Su- 

*  Mem  de  Conde,  torn.  vi.  p.  G03  (Collect.  Michnud). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  129 

reau  was  arrested  for  saying  that  it  was  lawful  to  kill  the 
king  and  his  mother,  if  they  did  not  accept  the  Gospel  accord- 
ing to  Calvin.* 

The  state  of  public  opinion  with  regard  to  the  clergy  can  be 
more  easily  detected  in  the  amusements  of  the  people  than  in 
the  writings  of  scholars,  or  the  acts  of  government.  Before  the 
Reformation  there  was  a  strong  anti-papal  feeling  throughout 
Europe,  which  showed  itself  in  the  light  literature  of  the  day — 
the  tales,  the  poetry,  and  the  dramas  with  which  all  classes 
amused  their  leisure  hours.  For  instance,  in  the  tales  ascribed 
to  Margaret  of  Navarre,  and  in  the  grotesque  romance  of  Gar- 
gantua,  monks  and  the  secular  clergy  are  the  chief  victims.  In 
the  rude  theatrical  representations  of  this  time,  the  abiiscs  of 
the  Church  are  dealt  with  most  unsparingly.  One  of  these  was 
exhibited  before  the  King  of  Navarre  and  his  wife,  the  pious 
Joan  of  Albret,  in  the  year  1558.  In  the  first  scene  a  poor 
woman  is  represented  as  at  the  point  of  death,  and  crying 
loudly  for  relief  from  her  sufferings.  The  sympathizing  gos- 
sips round  her  bed  send  off  hastily  for  the  parson,  who  goes 
through  the  usual  religious  ceremonial,  but  fails  to  alleviate 
her  anguish.  Then  several  monks  appear  —  some  bearing 
relics,  others  indulgences — none  of  which  bring  relief.  She  is 
next  invested  with  the  frock  and  scapulary  of  St.  Francis,  but 
this  too  fails  to  restore  her  to  health.  At  length,  after  much 
good  advice  has  been  wasted,  one  of  the  bystanders  says  there 
is  a  stranger  in  the  town  who  has  a  certain  specific  for  the  poor 
woman's  pains.  He  will  guarantee  a  perfect  cure;  but  the 
man  is  a  homeless  wanderer,  who  hides  himself  from  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  flees  the  light  of  day,  lives  in  obscure  corners,  and 
comes  out  at  night  only.  The  sufferer  begs  that  he  may  be 
sent  for,  and  after  much  trouble  he  is  found.  He  appears  in 
dress  and  gait  like  other  men.  Approaching  the  sick  bed,  he 
whispers  something  in  the  patient's  ear,  places  a  little  book  in 

**'Fas  esse  interficere.  .  .  .  nisi  obedire  cvnngelio  Calviniano."  De 
justa  Reijmll.  Christi  in  Regis  Auctorit,  386  recto.  See  Labitte  :  Democ.  de 
la  Ligue,  p.  li. 

I 


130  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW; 

her  hand,  which  he  assures  her  is  full  of  remedies  for  her  dis- 
order, and  vanishes.  And  so  the  scene  ends. 

In  the  next,  we  find  the  woman  restored  to  perfect  health :  her 
eyes  sparkle  with  animation,  and  she  can  walk  with  ease.  She 
announces  her  recovery,  eulogizes  the  unknown  physician, 
extols  his  remedy,  and  recommends  it  to  the  audience.  She 
adds  that  she  would  willingly  lend  it,  "  but  it  is  hot  to  the 
touch,  and  smells  of  fire  and  faggot."  However,  if  they  desire 
to  know  the  name  of  the  remedy  and  of  the  disease  of  which 
she  had  been  cured,  they  must  find  it  out  for  themselves.  She 
•retired  amid  loud  applause,  and  the  spectators  of  that  day 
found  no  more  difficulty  in  solving  the  enigma  than  we  do.* 

The  ritual  and  services  of  the  Church  were  not  free  from 
superstitious  usages.  The  more  the  substance  of  religion 
died  out  in  their  hearts,  the  more  the  clergy  adhered  to  the 
forms.  Thus  not  to  fast  on  Friday  was  a  heinous  sin ;  and  at 
Angers,  in  1539,  those  who  were  found  to  have  eaten  meat  on 
that  day  were  burned  alive  if  they  remained  impenitent,  and 
hanged  if  they  repented.  The  poet  Clement  Marot  narrowly 
escaped  burning  for  having  eaten  pork  in  Lent.  "If  any  one 
eats  meat,"  says  Erasmus,  they  all  cry  out :  "  Heavens !  the 
Church  is  in  danger ;  the  world  is  overrun  with  heretics." 
They  punish  every  one  who  "  eats  pork  instead  of  fish."  In 
1534  the  Bishop  of  Paris  gave  the  Countess  of  Brie  permis- 
sion to  eat  meat  on  "  meagre  "  days,  but  only  on  condition  that 
she  ate  in  private  and  fasted  regularly  every  Friday.  Bran- 
tome  relates  that,  during  a  procession  in  a  certain  country  town, 
one  woman  attracted  peculiar  attention  by  her  fervor,  even  to 
walking  barefoot.  She  then  went  home  to  prepare  her  hus- 
band's dinner.  The  smell  of  roast  meat  attracting  the  notice 

* 
of  some  priests,  they  entered  the  house  and  caught  her  in  the 

act  of  cooking,  for  which  she  was  sentenced  forthwith  to  go  in 
penance  through  the  streets  carrying  the  half-roasted  meat 
round  her  neck.  The  morals  of  the  clergy  were  very  relaxed, 

*  Arcfere  :  Hist.  Rochelle  (4to.  1756),  i.  p.  333. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  131 

and  they  would  hardly  have  thanked  Lippomano  if  they  had 
read  his  doubtful  compliment.*  But  this  is  a  subject  upon 
which  it  would  be  as  superfluous  as  it  would  be  disagreeable 
to  enlarge. 

The  sixteenth  century  was  an  age  of  superstitions,  the  in- 
evitable parasites  of  a  debased  religion,  and  often  stronger 
than  religion  itself.  Both  Catherine  and  Charles  IX.  had  their 
astronomers  and  alchemists ;  and  an  agreement  is  extant  be- 
tween the  king  and  one  Jean  cles  Gallans,  in  which  the  latter 
promises  to  transmute  "  all  imperfect  metals  into  fine  gold  and 
silver."  f  The  early  death  of  Charles  is  ascribed  by  Bodin  to* 
his  having  spared  the  life  of  the  famous  sorcerer  Trois 
Echelles.J  Catherine  was  so  credulous  as  to  believe  that  La 
Mole  and  Coconnas  had  compassed  the  king's  death  by  melting 
a  waxen  image  of  him  before  the  fire,  and  they  were  particu- 
larly "  questioned,"  or  tortured,  as  to  Avhether  they  had  not 
envoute  Charles  IX.  A  singular  chain,  or  amulet,  once  worn 
by  the  queen-mother,  has  been  often  engraved.§  Nostradamus 
was  the  great  oracle  of  the  age,  and  thousands  visited  the  little 
town  of  Salon  in  Provence  to  purchase  of  him  the  secrets  of  the 
future.  He  is  reported  to  have  shown  Catherine  the  throne  of 
France  occupied  by  Henry  IV.  This  was  shortly  before  the 
accident  that  befell  Henry  II.,  whose  death  the  astrologer  was 
supposed  to  have  prophesied,  in  a  barbarous  quatrain.  ||  Al- 

*  "  II  prcte  francese  [non]  molto  libidinoso  c  inclinato  solo  al  vizio  della 
crapula  (gluttony)."  The  sense  requires  the  addition  of  the  negative  non. 

t  Revue  retrospective,  i.  1833. 

I  Demonomanie,  p.  152.  This  man,  according  to  Mezeray,  gave  Charles 
the  names  of  1200  of  his  associates.  In  Bodin  and  L'Estoile  the  numbers 
are  set  down  at  30,000  and  3000  ;  Boguet  says  «'  trois  cents  mil." 

§  The  following  title  of  a  libelous  pamphlet  throws  a  curious  light  upon 
the  subject  in  the  text :  Les  Sorcelleries  de  Henri  de  Valois,  et  les  Oblations 
qu'il  faisoit  au  Diable  dans  le  J3ois  de.  Vincennes,  dvec  la  Figure  des  Demons 
d?  Argent  dore  auxquels  ilfaisoit  Offrande,  et  lesquels  se  voyent  encore  en  ceste 
Ville.  Paris,  1589. 

||  Le  lion  jcune  le  vicux  stirmontera  ; 

En  champ  bellique  par  singulier  duel, 
Dans  cage  d'or  les  yenx  lui  crevera, 
Deux  plaics  une,  puis  mourir,  mort  cruelle. 


132  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

manacs  and  prognostications  of  the  future  were  forbidden  to 
be  published  as  "  against  the  express  command  of  God,"  unless 
they  had  received  the  imprimatur  of  the  bishop  or  archbishop, 
who  thus  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  fortune-telling.*  Strange 
visions  appeared ;  the  Wandering  Jew  was  seen  in  many  places, 
a  tall  man  with  long  white  hair  floating  over  his  shoulders 
and  walking  barefoot.  Signs  were  visible  in  the  heavens : 
fiery  swords  flashed  across  the  midnight  sky,  and  rivers  flowed 
back  toward  their  sources.  Diabolical  possession  was  com- 
mon, men  and  women  were  turned  into  wolves,  and  prowled 
•about  the  cemeteries.  The  witches  held  their  sabbaths  undis- 
turbed by  the  thunders  of  a  Church  which  took  no  steps  to  re- 
move the  general  ignorance.  It  has  always  been  the  policy 
of  Rome  to  keep  men  ignorant,  that  she  may  keep  them  slaves. 
The  sorcerers  whom  the  Senate  of  Toulouse  held  to  trial  in 
1577  were  alone  more  numerous  than  all  other  classes  of  crim- 
inals for  two  years  before.  More  than  400  were  condemned 
to  perish  by  fire,  and,  most  surprising !  nearly  all  of  them  bore 
the  mark  of  the  devil  on  their  person.J  Gregory  does  not 
tell  us  whether  they  were  all  executed ;  but  it  is  easy  to  con- 
clude that  people,  accustomed  to  such  sentences  and  such  judi- 
cial massacres,  could  not  have  felt  much  sympathy  toward  a 
few  wretched  heretics  burned  or  hanged  for  reviling  the  Bon 
Dieu. 

A  blundering  sort  of  justice  was  meted  out  to  criminals  in 
those  days,  it  being  quite  as  probable  that  an  innocent  man 
would  suffer  as  that  the  guilty  would  be  convicted.  But  some 
one  was  punished,  an  example  was  made,  and  the  law  was  sat- 
isfied. Occasionally  special  commissions  were  issued  to  try 
such  powerful  criminals  as  defied  the  ordinary  courts  of  jus- 
tice. The  "grands  jours,"  or  special  assize  of  Poitou,  was 
held  under  a  guard  of  four  hundred  men,  and  lasted  all  the 

*  Isambert :  Annennes  Lois  Frany,  xiv.  p.  71 ;  Ordonnance  of  Orleans, 
January,  15GO. 

t  Gregorius  :  Tertla  Syntag.  Juris  Univ.  Pars,  lib.  74,  c.  21.  The  evi- 
dence would  hardly  satisfy  an  English  jury. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  133 

months  of  September  and  October.  Twelve  persons  were  be- 
headed for  their  crimes,  one  heretic  was  burned,  and  the  houses 
of  some  gentlemen  who  had  refused  to  appear  were  burned 
down. 

Many  of  the  punishments  were  grossly  trivial  and  indecent, 
others  were  barbarously  severe.  All  England  rings  with  ex- 
ecrations if  the  agony  of  a  convicted  murderer  is  unnecessa- 
rily prolonged  by  the  bungling  of  the  hangman;  but  in  the 
sixteenth  century  offenses  were  sometimes  punished  with  a 
refined  ferocity  worthy  of  the  kingdom  of  Dahomey.  No 
code  was  mild  three  hundred  years  ago,  but  practices  survived 
in  France  which  the  more  merciful  instincts  of  our  law  had 
banished  from  England.  Traitors  were  scourged,  their  ears 
were  cut  off,  and  their  tongues  pierced  with  a  red-hot  iron, 
after  which  they  were  hanged  or  torn  in  pieces  by  horses. 
Highway  robbers  were  condemned  by  a  special  edict  (1534), 
to  have  their  arms  broken  in  two  places,  as  well  as  their  ribs, 
le.gs,  and  thighs ;  *  they  were  then  to  be  extended  face  upper- 
most on  a  wheel  elevated  on  a  tall  pole,  and  "  there  they  should 
remain  to  repent  so  long  as  our  Lord  should  please  to  let  them 
linger."  "  If  the  criminals  are  favored,"  says  an  English  trav- 
eler, "their  breast  is  first  broken.  That  blow  is  called  the 
blow  of  mercy,  because  it  doth  quickly  bereave  them  of  their 
life."  f  Kindness  to  the  weak,  tenderness  and  commiseration 
even  for  the  criminal  are  the  slow  growth  of  civilizing  influ- 
ences.J  The  pen  almost  refuses  to  describe  how  some  wom- 
en— Huguenot  women — were  on  one  occasion  buried  alive. 
They  were  placed,  each  in  a  box  or  coffin  without  a  top  but 
with  bars  across,  after  which  they  were  lowered  into  a  deep 
trench  and  the  earth  was  thrown  upon  them.  The  execution- 
er was  a  master  (maitre)  in  those  days,  and  represented  rather 
the  sheriff  than  the  Calcraft  of  1867.  He  was  a  salaried  offi- 

*  Gregorius :  Tertia  Syntag.  Juris  Univ.  Pars,  lib.  74,  c.  21. 
t  Coryat,  Crudities,  p.  8. 

J  Joannes  Millseus:  Praxis  Criminis  persequendi  (fol.  Paris,  1541),  con- 
tains well-executed  plates  representing  various  kinds  of  torture. 


134  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

cer  of  justice,  not  very  far  below  the  judge  in  rank.  The  office 
was  frequently  hereditary,  and  its  emoluments  great.  At 
Carcassonne  in  1538,  his  gloves  for  one  execution  cost  at  one 
time  twelve  deniers,  and  twenty  at  another.  He  was  paid  five 
sols  for  the  tumbrel  or  hurdle  on  which  the  criminal  was 
dragged  to  the  place  of  •execution ;  ten  for  hanging  him,  twen- 
ty for  beheading  him,  and  five  for  the  pole  on  which  the  head 
was  exhibited.  For  flogging  a  culprit  round  the  town  he  re- 
ceived seven  sols  six  deniers.  For  burning  a  heretic  at  Tou- 
louse, the  wood,  straw,  chain,  turpentine,  brimstone,  etc.,  cost 
five  livres  six  sols,  with  an  additional  couple  of  livres  if  the 
victim  was  burned  alive. 

The  savage  punishments  of  the  age  tended  to  brutalize  the 
manners  of  the  people,  one  evil  thus  fostering  and  reacting 
upon  another.  In  the  small  town  of  Provins,  now  so  famous 
for  its  roses,  there  lived  one  Crispin,  who  was  accused  of  rob- 
bery and  murder,  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
As  he  passed  for  a  Huguenot,  the  priests,  up  to  the  last  mo- 
ment, urged  him  to  recant ;  but  he  remained  firm  — "  si  ne 
spavoit  pas  bien  lire  ni  ecrire."  In  due  course  he  was  exe- 
cuted, and  the  dead  body  left  hanging  on  the  gallows.  A  crowd 
of  a  hundred  boys  or  more,  and  none  over  twelve  years  old, 
gathered  round  the  spot ;  some  of  the  more  daring  mounted 
the  ladder,  cut  the  rope  and  let  the  corpse  fall.  A  cord  was 
now  fastened  round  the  neck,  another  round  the  ankles,  and 
the  boys  began  to  pull  in  different  directions  for  the  mastery. 
As  the  sides  were  pretty  evenly  matched,  a  truce  was  agreed 
upon,  during  which  they  got  up  a  mock  trial  on  the  question, 
in  what  manner  a  Huguenot  ought  to  be  dragged  to  the  voirie 
or  dunghill.  The  juvenile  court  decided  that  "the  said  here- 
tic should  be  dragged  by  the  heels  like  a  dead  beast,"  and 
were  actually  pulling  the  body  to  the  Changy  gate,  when 
another  gang  of  boys  met  them  and  insisted  that  the  body 
should  be  burned.  A  fire  was  kindled  into  which  the  corpse 
was  thrown,  while  a  crowd  of  spectators  looked  on  encouraging 
the  boys  by  words  and  gestures.  After  the  body  had  lain 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  135 

some  time  in  the  flames,  it  was  again  dragged  out  and  thrown 
into  the  river,  where  a  bargeman  cut  off  an  ear  and  wore  it 
as  a  trophy  in  his  hat.*  Comment  upon  such  an  incident 
would  be  superfluous.  It  is  a  picture  painted  by  a  contempo- 
rary of  a  state  of  society  that  had  not  existed  in  Europe  since 
the  fall  of  Rome.  The  men  of  Proving-  who  looked  on  approv- 
ingly while  the  boys  were  making  a  plaything  of  Crispin's 
lifeless  body,  were  the  fathers  of  those  who  committed  the 
atrocities  of  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

Under  the  Valois  dynasty,  the  towns  and  cities  of  France 
were  very  much  as  they  had  been  through  the  long  period  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  During  the  last  fifty  years,  the  spirit  of 
change  and  improvement  has  spread  so  rapidly,  that,  except  in 
the  renfoter  parts  of  the  country,  the  traces  of  the  old  towns 
have  almost  disappeared.  The  towns  were  surrounded  with 
high  walls,  such  as  may  still  be  seen  confining  the  Haute  Ville 
of  Boulogne-sur-Mer,  or  parts  of  York,  Chester,  and  Norwich. 
The  streets  were  narrow  and  winding,  the  houses  tall,  the  suc- 
cessive stories  sometimes  projecting  over  each  other,  so  as  al- 
most to  exclude  the  sun.  With  the  exception  of  the  mansions 
of  the  nobles,  and  sometimes  of  the  wealthier  traders,  the 
houses  were  built  of  wood — often  straw-thatched,  and  with 
windows  formed  alike  to  exclude  air  and  light.  This  was  one 
cause  of  the  frequent  pestilences  which  ravaged  Europe,  and 
of  the  low  average  of  human  life.  The  mansions  of  the  nobles  and 
gentry  still  retained  a  semi-fortified  aspect.  They  were  enter- 
ed by  huge  gate- ways,  and  few  windows  looked  into  the  street. 
The  shops  of  the  traders  resembled  greatly  the  modern  green- 
grocers' or  butchers',  in  being  without  glazed  windows,  and 
open  to  the  street  as  soon  as  the  shutter  was  let  down.  Some- 
times they  were  connected  by  a  sort  of  arcade,  still  traceable 
in  the  Piliers  des  Holies,  where  the  name  remains  while  the 
thing  has  disappeared.  These  middle-class  dwellings  were 
often  covered  externally  with  slates,  or  the  intervals  between 

*  Claude  Haton,  ii.  704. 


136  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  timbers  were  filled  up  with  bricks  arranged  in  fantastic 
patterns.  The  external  wood-work  was  often  as  exquisitely 
carved  as  the  internal.  A  spacious  staircase  with  massive 
balustrades  occupied  a  disproportionate  share  of  the  house. 
The  roof  was  so  arranged  as  to  show  a  gable  to  the  street,  and 
it  often  projected  so  far  as  to  permit  a  small  gallery  to  be  built 
out  of  the  top  story,  where  the  inmates  might  enjoy  the  fresh 
air  under  shelter. 

There  were  no  facilities  for  pedestrians  :  the  roadways  were 
unpaved  (except  in  a  few  rare  instances),  and  no  smooth  trot- 
toir  invited  the  curious  or  the  idle  to  stroll  and  gaze  at  the  shops. 
In  wet  weather  the  streets  were  impassable  from  mud,  in  hot 
and  dry  weather  they  were  almost  as  troublesome  from  the 
dust  and  stench ;  for  the  road  was  the  general  receptacle  of 
the  rubbish  of  the  houses,  and  the  scavenger's  trade  was  in 
embryo.  Drainage  was  unknown,  and  even  in  Paris  there 
was  only  one  sewer,  namely  that  constructed  by  Aubriot  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  V. 

Churches  and  convents  were  numerous  in  every  city  and 
town,  not  unf requently  occupying  one-half  of  their  area.  At 
Rouen  there  were  forty  convents  and  thirty-six  parish  church- 
es, without  reckoning  the  collegiate  churches  and  the  cathedral. 
Each  city  and  town  had  its  governor,  who  lived  in  the  citadel 
or  castle,  which  was  generally  so  detached  as  to  be  secure  when 
the  town  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  well- 
known  town  of  Boulogne-sur-Mer  presents  us  with  an  easily 
accessible  example  of  this  arrangement. 

In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  population  of  Par- 
is was  between  four  and  five  hundred  thousand.*  The  walls 
were  seven  leagues  in  circuit,  according  to  Corrozet ;  while 
Giustiniani  (1535)  says  that  a  man  could  make  the  circuit  in 
three  hours'  easy  walking,  which  is  nearer  Coryat's  calculation 
(1608)  of  ten  miles.f  It  was  surrounded  by  stone  walls  flanked 
by  towers,  and  pierced  by  eleven  gates,  five  on  the  south  side 

*  Giovanni  Soranzo  (1558)  says  400,000  or  more. 

t  Corrozet  (dd.  15G8)  says:  "...  Cette  villc  est  de  unzc  portcs.  .   .  . 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  137 

and  six  on  the  north.  The  bulwark  enclosing  the  northern  part 
of  the  city  started  from  the  arsenal  on  the  river,  ran  along  the 
boulevards  of  the  Bastille,  St.  Antoine,  Temple,  St.  Martin,  and 
St.  Denis  to  the  Place  des  Victoires,  the  Palais  Royal,  and  the 
Louvre.  On  the  south,  it  ran  from  the  Pont  de  la  Tournelle, 
behind  the  gardens  of  the  college  of.  Henry.  IV.,  across  the 
streets  of  St.  Jacques  and  Mazarin  to  the  river  at  the  Po*nt  des 
Arts.*  Houses  even  now  were  found  in  clusters  beyond  the 
Porte  St.  Honore,  on  each  side  of  the  road  as  far  as  the  pres- 
ent Barriers  of  Roule  and  of  Chaillot.  The  Faubourg  Mont- 
niartre  was  without  the  walls,  along  the  line  of  the  Chaussee 
d'Antin,  and  beyond  the  Temple  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine  was 
fast  growing  in  size.  Giovanni  Capello  writing  in  1554  de- 
.  scribes  Paris  as  the  largest  city  he  had  ever  seen,  and  Coryat 
declares  it  to  be  well  called  "  Lutetia  (from  lutum,  mud),  for 
many  of  the  streets  are  the  dirtiest  and  the  stinkingest  of  all 
he  ever  saw."  It  contained  from  three  to  four  hundred  houses 
of  the  yearly  value  of  6000  livres,  two  hundred  of  10,000,  one 
hundred  of  30,000,  and  twenty  at  least  of  50,000.f  Every 
Wednesday  and  Saturday  2000  horses  entered  the  city  laden 
solely  with  poultry  and  game,  all  of  which  was  sold  in  two 
hours. 

The  streets  were  dark,  narrow,  and  winding,  with  a  gutter 
running  dowu  the  middle.  In  that  part  called  the  Cite  the 
houses  were  tall  and  black,  grim  as  prisons,  and  swarming  with 
a  squalid  famishing  population.  Many  of  the  streets  were  lit- 
tle wider  than  the  curious  rows  or  alleys  in  Yarmouth  in  which 
you  can  hardly  turn  a  wheelbarrow.  No  lamps  shed  even  a 
feeble  light  to  guide  the  belated  citizen.  The  tapers  in  the 
shrines  at  the  street  corners  alone  helped  to  direct  his  steps,  if 
he  chanced  to  be  abroad  without  torch  or  lantern.  It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  the  streets  were  very  insecure',  and  acts  of 

Lequel  enclos  sept  lieues  lors  contient."    See  also  Tomraaseo,  p.  43;  Cor- 
'  yat's  Crudities,  p.  17. 

*  Brun  and  Hogenburp :   Theatre  des  prindpales  Villes. 
f  3 fern,  de  Viell/eville  (Pantheon  Litt.),  1836,  p.  510. 


138  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

violence  frequent.  At  intervals  during  the  night,  the  watch,  a 
company  of  armed  men,  went  their  round,  but  the  noise  they 
made  and  the  torches  they  carried,  were  a  warning  to  the  evil- 
doer to  make  his  escape. 

The  clear  waters  of  the  Seine  cut  the  city  into  two  parts. 
The  stately  quays  that  now  line  its  banks  scarcely  existed  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  IX.  The  gardens  of  private  citizens  ex- 
tended in  niany  places  down  to  the  water's  edge.  The  river 
flowed  beneath  five  bridges — one  of  which  (the  Millers'  or  the 
Birds'  bridge)  was  for  foot  passengers  only.  It  joined  what  is 
now  the  Quai  de  la  Megisserie  to  the  Qua!  de  1'Horloge,  and 
was  swept  away,  both  houses  and  inhabitants,  by  the  flood  of 
1596.  Thirty-four  houses  stood  on  each  side  of  the  bridge  of 
Notre  Dame,  and  the  street  thus  formed  was  the  favorite  prom- 
enade of  the  Parisians.  The  road  was  so  wide  that  three  car- 
riages could  pass  abreast,  and  the  rents  were  higher  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  city.  Among  the  attractions  of  this  street, 
Gilles  Corrozet  does  not  forget  to  mention  the  charming  wom- 
en who  served  in  the  shops.* 

The  modern  traveler  now  seeks  in  vain  for  the  ten  islands 
which  once  interrupted  the  navigation  of  the  Seine.  That  of 
Louviers,  where  Charles  IX.  used  to  bathe,  and  where  he  was 
once  entertained  with  a  naval  fight,  was  united  to  the  Quai  Mor- 
land  in  1847.  The  islands  of  Notre  Dame  and  Vaches,  com- 
posing the  Isle  of  St.  Louis,  were  once  separated  by  a  narrow 
ditch,  which  is  now  the  Rue  Poulletier.  The  Jews'  Island, 
where  Jacques  Molay  was  beheaded,  was  united  to  the  Cite  by 
Henry  IV.,  and  formed  the  Place  Dauphine  and  the  spur  of  the 
Pont  Neuf,  upon  which  the  statue  of  the  first  Bourbon  king 
still  stands.  The  island  of  the  Louvre,  never  little  better  than 
a  mere  sand  bank,  has  been  dredged  away.  The  others  have 
disappeared  in  the  course  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the 

Miror  et  innumerns  forma  prrestante  puellas, 

Tarn  lascivo  habitu  cultas,  adeoque  facetas 

Ut  Priamum  aut  vetcrem  succendere  Ncstora  possint. 

LaFleurdes  Antiquitez,  Paris,  1533. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  139 

river,  and,  La  Cite  alone  remains.  This  old  quarter  of  Paris, 
the  hot-bed  of  sedition,  disease,  and  crime,  has  been  so  entirely 
metamorphosed  by  the  hand  of  improvement,  that  travelers 
who  knew  it  thirty  years  ago  recognize  it  with  difficulty. 

Even  at  this  time  Paris  was  noted  for  its  orfevrerie,  its  works 
in  gold  and  silver  being  much  sought  after.  The  Rue  St.  Den- 
is was  the  principal  street;  its  shops  and  warehouses  were 
famous  all  over  Europe.  Along  that  street  kings  and  queens 
used  to  make  their  solemn  entrance  into  the  capital,  when  the 
merchants  spent  their  money  like  water  to  decorate  their  houses 
in  welcome  of  their  sovereign.  Between  it  and  the  Rue  aux 
Fers  was  the  Church  of  the  Innocents,  round  which  lay  the  fa- 
mous cemetery,  enclosed  with  dank  and  sombre  arcades,  filled 
with  shops  and  stalls.  They  were  the  favorite  resort  of  law- 
yers, and  the  rendezvous  of  fashion  and  intrigue,  as  the  Cathe- 
dral of  St.  Paul's  was  to  the  English  court  or  city  gallants  in 
the  reign  of  the  Stuarts.  The  Rue  Jacob  (St.  Jacques)  was 
like  Paternoster  Row,  full  of  shops  plentifully  furnished  with 
books — diversos  libros  diversis  artibus  aptos. 

The  chief  royal  residence  was  the  Louvre.  The  palace  of 
the  Tournelles — the  Place  Royale  now  occupies  its  site — was 
deserted  after  the  accident  to  Henry  II.  The  brick-fields  which 
gave  their  name  to  the  new  palace  of  the  Tuileries  had  disap- 
peared in  the  pi'evious  century ;  and  Catherine,  having  pur- 
chased the  Marquis  of  Villeroy's  hotel  with  the  adjoining  prop- 
erty, gave  Philibert  Delorme  instructions  to  commence  that 
striking  monument  of  her  architectural  taste. 

A  Venetian  embassador  reckons  that  there  were  at  this  time 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  cities  in  France ;  but  as  he  gives 
no  definition  of  the  term  "  city,"  his  calculation  is  of  little  serv- 
ice. He  probably  meantwalled  towns,  to  distinguish  them  from 
such  as  were  unfortified.  The  approaches  to  the  cities  were 
not  then  marked  by  airy  suburbs  and  scattered  villas ;  but  the 
cultivated  country  or  forest  ran  close  up  to  the  walls.  One 
ornamental  erection  alone  serves  to  mark  the  great  change  that 
has  taken  place.  Coryat  has  frequent  occasion  to  describe  the 


140  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

"  fair  gallows  of  stone,"  which  adorned  the  entrance  to  every 
town.  Most  of  them  remained  until  they  were  swept  away  by 
the  Revolution. 

The  principal  cities  of  France,  after  Paris,  were  Lyons,  Or- 
leans, Rouen,  Bordeaux,  and  Dieppe.  A  paved  causeway  led 
from  the  capital  to  each  of  these  places.  Orleans  was  so  large 
and  beautiful  that  Charles  V.  called  it  the  finest  in  France.  It 
was  populous  and  well-built,  and  its  university  contained  1600 
students, "  all  men  and  not  boys,  as  in  the  other  seats  of  ed- 
ucation." 

Rouen,  sometimes  called  the  second  city  in  the  kingdom, 
carried  on  a  large  trade,  but  it  had  not  yet  become  the  "  Man- 
chester "  of  France.  It  had  four  yearly  fairs,  and  its  quays 
were  crowded  with  ships,  sometimes  as  many  as  two  hundred 
"  small  vessels  "  being  there  at  the  same  time.*  Then,  as  now, 
the  poorer  people  drank  no  wine  but  "  bii'a  di  pere  e  poma." 
When  Henry  II.  and  Catherine  visited  Rouen  in  1550,  the  cit- 
izens welcomed  them  with  a  remarkable  ballet  or  masque.  The 
banks  of  the  Seine  were  transformed  so  as  to  present  a  picture 
of  Brazilian  life.  There  is  an  old  wood-cut  representing  the 
curious  scene.  A  meadow,  sloping  down  to  the  river,  is  plant- 
ed with  trees,  colored  and  trimmed  so  as  to  resemble  those  of 
South  American  forests.  Parroquets  and  other  gaily-colored 
birds  are  flying  about  them,  and  apes  and  monkeys  clamber- 
ing among  the  branches.  The  natives  are  represented  by  three 
hundred  mariners  of  Rouen,  Dieppe,  and  Havre,  who,  unencum- 
bered with  the  slightest  clothing,  are  hunting,  dancing,  and 
fighting  with  as  much  animation  as  the  fifty  "  real  savages  just 
arrived  from  America."  Offensive  as  the  exhibition  would  be 
to  our  tastes,  it  was  otherwise  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
queen  was  delighted  "  aux  jolys  esbatements  et  schyomachie 
des  sauvages."  f  A  somewhat  similar  but  less  undraped  scene 
was  represented  before  Charles  IX.  when  he  visited  Bordeaux 

*  Marino  Giustiniano  in  Tommaseo. 

t  (Test  la  deduction  du  sumptueux  ordre  de  Rouen,  etc.  Small  4to.  Rouen, 
1551. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  141 

in  April,  1565.  Representatives — most  of  them  stage  repre- 
sentatives— of  twelve  nations  defiled  before  him,  among  them 
being  some  real  "  Canarians,  savages,  Americans,  Brazilians, 
and  Taprobanians,"  each  speaking  in  his  native  tongue.  A  pict- 
ure was  painted  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  scene.* 
Bordeaux  was  a  wealthy  city,  its  foreign  trade  extensive,  its 
population  so  numerous  that  it  could  furnish  10,000  fight- 
ing men,  and  its  parliament  ranked  next  after  Paris  and  Tou- 
louse. 

In  1560,  Dieppe  possessed  a  mercantile  marine  equal  to 
that  of  all  the  rest  of  France.  The  population  of  the  city 
amounted  to  60,000,  now  it  is  about  20,000.  The  ship-owners 
of  this  "  northern  Rochelle  "  may  compare  with  the  Medicis. 
When  John  Ango  entertained  Francis  I.  at  his  chateau  of 
Varengeville  (now  an  undistinguishable  heap  of  ruins),  he  re- 
ceived the  king  with  a  magnificence  unusual  even  in  those 
magnificent  times.  The  rooms  were  decorated  with  costly 
hangings,  curious  furniture,  Italian  sculpture,  and  precious 
vases.  Ango  lent  money  and  ships  to  the  court,  and  often 
had  as  many  as  twenty  armed  vessels  afloat,  with  which  he 
ventured  to  measure  strength  with  the  King  of  Portugal. 
When  the  government  of  the  Low  Countries  seized  all  the 
French  ships  in  Flemish  waters,  Henry  II.  ordered  Coligny  to 
equip  a  fleet  instantly  and  take  summary  vengeance.  But  the 
ports  were  empty,  and  there  were  no  ships.  "  It  is  only  the  peo- 
ple of  Dieppe,"  said  the  admiral, "  who  can  supply  your  maj- 
esty with  a  fleet."  The  citizens,  proud  of  the  honor,  offered 
to  pay  half  the  expense,  and  fitted  out  nineteen  vessels  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  tons  each.  Ships  of  Caen  went  to  Africa 
and  the  New  World,  bringing  back  so  much  more  gold  than 
could  be  exchanged,  that  the  king  permitted  the  merchants  to 
have  a  mint  of  their  own. 

Lyons,  owing  to  its  fairs,  possessed  a  stronger  foreign  ele- 

*  Favin  :  Hist,  de  Navarre,  an.  1565  ;  Godefroy  :  Ceremonial  de  France, 
\.  p.  909  ;  Anbignc  :  Hist.  liv.  iv.  ch.  5 ;  Popeliniere,  i.  liv.  10 ;  Abel  Jouan  : 
Voyage  de  Charks  JX. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.' 

mcnt  among  its  inhabitants  than  any  other  town  in  France. 
In  1575  Lippomano  called  it  "  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
cities ;"  and  there  was  a  proverb  that  "  Lyons  supported  the 
crown  by  its  taxes,  and  Paris  by  its  presents."  The  revenue 
contributed  by  the  former  city  alone  was  so  great,  that  when 
there  was  a  talk  of  suspending  the  fairs,  it  was  calculated  that 
the  change  would  involve  a  loss  of  ten  millions  of  gold  yearly. 
The  immense  business  led  to  the  appointment  of  special  tri- 
bunals for  the  fairs,  and  a  sort  of  clearing-house  for  bills  of 
exchange.  The  principal  merchants  and  bankers  were  Ital- 
ians :  Capponi,  Gondi,  Spini,  Deodati.  Lorenzo  Capponi,  one 
of  the  most  munificent  of  his  class,  kept  open  house  during 
each  fair,  and  entertained  more  than  4000  persons.  Aft- 
er the  introduction  of  silk-growing,  Lyons  received  a  great 
development.  The  first  mulberry-tree  planted  in  the  16th 
century  at  Alais,  about  a  league  from  Montelimart,  was  still 
alive  in  1802.  In  this  century  all  Europe  was  supplied  with 
books  from  the  presses  of  Lyons — no  city,  Venice  perhaps  ex- 
cepted,  circulating  more.  The  names  of  Gryphaeus  and  Do- 
let,  Tournes  and  Roville,  are  familiar  to  all  book-collectors. 
In  the  house  of  Henry  Stephens  (Etienne)  every  body  spoke 
Latin  from  garret  to  cellar.  The  old  city  occupied  the  space 
between  the  Cours  Napoleon  and  a  line  drawn  from  the  Pont 
Morand  to  the  Pont  de  la  Feuillee,  the  Church  of  St.  Nizier 
being  about  the  middle.  There  were  only  two  bridges — one 
over  each  river ;  and  a  small  suburb  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Saone,  clustering  round  the  cathedral  and  the  Church  of  St. 
Lawrence.  The  superior  comfort  of  the  inhabitants  may  be 
estimated  from  the  report  of  a  traveler,  who  mentions  as  a 
circumstance  worthy  of  note,  that  "most  of  their  windows 
were  made  of  white  paper ;"  although  in  some  of  the  better 
houses  the  upper  part  of  the  window  was  filled  with  glass. 

The  smaller  towns  of  France  have  all  undergone  a  change 
more  or  less  great :  even  those  in  the  agricultural  districts 
have  outgrown  their  walls.  At  Boulogne-sur-Mer  the  lower 
town  consisted  of  two  or  three  convents  and  a  few  fishermen's 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  143 

huts  clustered  round  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas.  A  popu- 
lous suburb  now  covers  the  site  of  the  old  harbor. 

Dijon,  now  a  mere  provincial  town,  was  once  a  great  parlia- 
ment centre:  a  little  capital  in  Eastern  France.*  It  had  a 
vast  ducal  palace ;  churches  and  abbeys  were  crowded  close 
together.  Of  the  palace  of  Jean  sans  Peur,  the  fire  has 
spared  little  beyond  a  tall  tower  and  some  precious  fragments. 
Modern  improvements  and  renovations  have  destroyed  much 
of  the  old  city ;  but  that  gem  of  the  Renaissance  La  Maison 
Milsand,  in  the  Rue  des  Forges,  still  remains  as  an  unapproach- 
able model  of  architectural  decoration. 

The  charming  little  town  of  Moulins  in  the  Bourbonnais 
filled  the  space  now  enclosed  by  the  inner  promenade — the 
Cours  Doujar,  d'Aquin,  and  Berulle  —  constructed  on  the 
ditches  of  the  old  wall.  None  of  the  "  curious  birds  and 
beasts  "  remain  in  the  park ;  and  of  the  magnificent  chateau 
where  Charles  IX.  held  his  court  little  has  survived  beyond 
the  huge  unbattlemented  tower ;  and  of  the  steeples  for  which 
the  town  was  once  so  famous,  only  one  (the  clock-tower)  still 
soars  above  the  houses. 

The  greatest  change  of  all  has  taken  place  in  the  district 
that  lies  around  the  great  manufacturing  town  of  St.  Etienne. 
In  1560  it  was  a  pleasant  wooded  valley;  no  clanging  en- 
gines disturbed  its  silence,  no  clouds  of  smoke  defiled  the  air. 
Now  it  is  one  of  the  busiest  centres  of  modern  industry,  and 
in  noise  and  dirt  may  almost  vie  with  Birmingham. 

Toulon,  now  the  great  arsenal  of  the  French  navy,  was  a 
small  port  containing  only  637  houses,  and  covering  an  area 
of  660  acres.  Its  whole  artillery  consisted  of  two  bombardes 
and  twenty-five  pounds  of  powder.  Its  naval  importance  dates 
from  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  In  1543,  when  Barbarossa's  fleet 
was  received  into  the  harbor,  the  inhabitants  were  ordered  to 

*  Et  ninsi  Dijon  a  le  bruit 

"D'etre  1'une,  sans  point  de  tache, 
Des  plus  belles  villes  qu'on  snche. 

Blason  et  Louentje  de,  la  noble  Ville  de  Dyjon. 


144  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

abandon  the  town  for  six  months  under  pain  of  death,  leaving 
their  houses  and  all  they  could  not  remove  at  the  mercy  of 
the  Turks.* 

From  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  condition  of  France  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Religious  Wars,  the  reader  may  in  some 
degree  be  able  to  understand  how  such  a  crime  as  the  St. 
Bartholomew  massacre  was  possible.  Although  right  and 
wrong  are  always  the  same,  our  appreciation  of  them  depends 
in  the  main  upon  our  education  and  the  circumstances  around 
us ;  and  it  would  be  unfair  to  judge  the  men  of  the  sixteenth 
century  by  our  nineteenth  century  standard. 

*  Reyistres  du  Conseil  de  Toulon,  B,  No.  10,  fol.  247. 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  145 


CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CHARLES  IX.  TO  THE  MASSA- 
CRE AT  VASSY. 

[1560-1562.] 

Character  of  the  Boy-King — Portrait  of  Catherine — The  States-General — 
The  Chancellor's  Address — Speeches  of  the  Three  Orators — Agitation  in 
the  Provinces — Religious  Amnesty — Edict  of  July — Provincial  Assemblies 
Convoked — Instructions  of  the  Isle  of  France — The  Triumvirate — States 
of  Pontoise — Proposals  of  Reform — Colloquy  of  Poissy — Beza — Confer- 
ence in  the  Queen's  Chamber — King's  Speech — Beza's  Defense — Cath- 
erine's Liberal  Spirit — Spread  of  New  Doctrines — Monster  Congregations 
— The  Guises  Intrigue  with  Spain — Violence  of  the  Clergy — Massacres  at 
Cahors  and  Aurillac — Amiens — Huguenot  Outrages — Riot  of  St.  Medard 
— Notables  at  St.  Germains — Edict  of  January,  1562 — Violence  at  Dijon 
and  Aix — Anthony's  Apostasy — The  Duke  and  the  Cardinal  at  Saverne 
— Massacre  at  Vassy — Both  Parties  Arm — Guise  Enters  Paris — Plot  to 
Seize  the  King. 

THE  accession  of  Charles  IX.,  a  ohild  not  eleven  years  old, 
was  a  revolution.  "  Now  we  fell  from  a  fever  into  a  frenzy," 
quaintly  writes  an  old  historian  ;  "  a  reign  cursed  in  the  city 
and  cursed  in  the  field ;  cursed  in  the  beginning  and  cursed 
in  the  ending."* 

The  new  king  is  described  by  the  Venetian  embassador  as 
an  amiable,  handsome  boy,  with  fine  eyes  and  graceful  carriage, 
eating  and  drinking  little,  quick-witted  and  spirited,  gentle  and 
liberal.f 

The  same  gossiping  writer  supplies  a  striking  picture  of  the 

*  A  General  Hist,  of  France,  by  John  de  Serres  (Serranus).  Fol.  Lond. 
1624,  p.  692! 

t  Beza  had  a  favorable  opinion  of  the  boy-king,  but  not  of  the  mother : 
"  De  rege  optimam  spem  esse,  et  hoc  tibi,  ut  certissimum,  confirmo.  Sed 
puer  est  et  matrem  habet."  Beza  to  Haller,  24th  January,  1561,  in  Baum's 
Beza,  ii.  p.  25,  App. 

K 


146  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

queen-mother  at  this  time.  He  speaks  of  her  keen  comprehen- 
sion, her  business  habits,  and  her  sound  understanding.  "  She 
never  loses  sight  of  the  king,  and  permits  no  one  to  sleep  in 
his  room.  She  knows  that  she  is  envied  because  she  is  a  for- 
.eigner  ....  Her  plans  are  deep,  and  she  holds  every  thing 
in  her  own  hands  ....  She  lives  carelessly,  has  an  enor- 
mous appetite,  and,  to  keep  down  her  fat,  she  takes  much  exer- 
cise, walks  much,  rides  much  on  horseback,  and  hunts  with  the 
king.  Her  complexion  is  very  dark,  and  she  is  already  [cetat. 
43]  a  stout  woman."  *  A  letter  she  wrote  about  this  time  to 
her  daughter  Elizabeth  is  eminently  characteristic :  f 

"As  I  have  given  the  messenger  instructions  to  say  many 
things  to  you,  I  write  only  to  pray  you,  my  child,  not  to  feel 
sadness  on  my  behalf ;  for  I  will  try  to  demean  myself  so  that 
God  and  the  world  may  approve  of  my  actions ;  for  my  chief 
care  shall  be  the  honor  of  God  and  the  conservation  of  my  au- 
thority ;  not,  however,  for  my  own  benefit,  but  for  the  preser- 
vation of  this  realm  and  the  good  of  your  brothers,  whom  I 
love  for  the  sake  of  him  who  was  your  common  father.  My 
dear  child,  commend  your  happiness  to  the  keeping  of  the  Al- 
mighty ;  for  you  have  seen  me  as  happy  and  prosperous  as 
you  are  now  yourself,  when  my  only  sorrow  was  the  fear  of  not 
being  sufficiently  beloved  by  the  king  your  father,  who  gave  me 
more  honor  than  I  merited,  but  whom  I  so  loved  that,  in  his 
presence,  I  always  felt  awe.  God  has  bereaved  me  of  my  hus- 
band ;  and  now  I  weep  for  your  brother.  He  has  committed 
to  my  charge  three  little  children,  a  kingdom  distracted  by  di- 
visions, within  which  there  is  not  one  individual  in  whom  I  can 
trust,  or  one  who  is  not  swayed  by  private  partiality.  There- 
fore, my  dear,  take  warning  by  my  fate :  confide  not  exclusive- 
ly in  the  love  which  you  bear  toward  your  husband,  and  which 
he  renders  back  to  you  ;  nor  in  the  pomps  and  luxuries  of  your 
present  power :  but  lift  up  your  heart  to  Him  alone  who  can 

*  Baschct,  p.  510. 

t  Aubespine  Negotiations,  p.  781.  The  translation  of  this  unctuous  letter 
is  from  Miss  Freer's  Elizabeth  of  Valois,  i.  p.  230. 


CATHERINE  DE  MEDICIS. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  149 

gether  again.  And  now  in  1560,  when  France  was  in  great 
peril  from  internal  commotions,  they  were  to  meet  once  more 
in  the  city  of  Orleans.  Even  had  the  country  been  entirely 
quiet,  the  financial  condition  of  the  state  was  such,  that  extra- 
ordinary means  of  raising  supplies  would  have  been  required. 
The  expenditure  exceeded  the  annual  revenue  by  ten  millions, 
and  though  such  a  deficit  may  be  easily  met  by  modern 
finance-ministers,  there  were  not  three  hundred  years  ago  the 
same  convenient  methods  of  filling  an  empty  exchequer.  The 
Guises  knew  that  the  summoning  of  the  States-General  was  a 
hostile  measure  aimed  at  them,  but  had  not  opposed  it  for 
two  reasons :  firstly,  it  would  relieve  them  of  the  unpopularity 
they  might  possibly  incur  by  attempting  to  raise  the  necessary 
supplies  by  increasing  taxation  under  the  royal  mandate ;  sec- 
ondly, they  hoped  to  receive  a  large  accession  of  strength  from 
the  Catholic  members.  Each  party,  indeed,  labored  to  gain 
the  popular  support,  and  at  the  electoral  meetings  throughout 
the  kingdom  there  was  an  excitement  that  augured  well  for  the 
revival  of  constitutional  forms  of  government.  The  Hugue- 
nots of  Paris  went  to  the  Hotel-de-Ville  and  insisted  that  their 
remonstrance  and  confession  should  be  embodied  in  the  cahier 
of  instructions.  In  that  drawn  up  by  the  municipality  of 
Provins  the  grievances  of  the  people  were  declared  in  plain 
and  forcible  language.  "  The  clergy,"  they  said, "  are  too  rich, 
the  Church  too  wealthy;  the  priests  should  have  less  money 
and  keep  fewer  concubines ;  they  should  give  the  people  more 
instruction  in  good  manners,  distribute  more  liberal  alms  to 
the  poor,  and  be  less  disorderly  in  their  passions,  less  luxuri- 
ous in  their  dress,  less  given  to  haunting  taverns  and  houses 
of  ill-fame ;  they  should  not  ride  out  a  hunting  so  frequently 
with  hawks  and  hounds,  or  so  grind  the  people  in  body  and 
goods.  .  .  .  Justice  is  too  dear,  the  fees  are  excessive,  and 
the  judge  ought  to  be  paid  out  of  the  public  purse.  .  .  . 


Pasquier,  who  was  a  "  parliamentarian,"  calls  the  appeal  to  the  Three  Es- 
tates a  "  vieille  folie  courant  en  1'esprit  fran^ais." 


150  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  people  are  oppressed  by  the  soldiery,  who  beat  and  plun- 
der them,  and  turn  them  out  of  house  and  home,  and  kill 
them.  They  are  grievously  oppressed  by  taxes,  from  which 
the  rich  by  favor  are  exempt.  .  .  .  The  salt  is  not  good, 
dry,  or  pure;  it  contains  a  sixth  part  of  rubbish.  .  .  .  The 
gentry  do  not  defend  their  people  or  neighbors,  as  they  are 
bound  to  do ;  they  hold  taxable  property,  and  carry  on  trades 
without  paying  for  licenses."  * 

The  assembly  of  the  Three  Estates  was  solemnly  inaugu- 
rated on  the  13th  December,  1560,  in  the  great  hall  of  the  cas- 
tle of  Orleans,  where  the  Black  Prince  had  feasted,  and  Joan 
of  Arc  had  sat  in  council  with  Dunois,  La  Hire,  Xaintrailles, 
and  the  flower  of  French  chivalry,  while  "  the  English  wolves  " 
under  Talbot  were  prowling  round  the  city  walls.  The  vault- 
ed roof,  long  since  crumbled  to  ruins,  was  painted  and  decora- 
ted with  fleur-de-lis ;  the  walls  were  hung  with  tapestry  repre- 
senting mythological  and  allegorical  scenes.  On  a  small  car- 
peted platform  or  dais,  at  the  upper  end,  sat  Charles  IX. ;  at 
his  left,  the  queen-mother ;  beyond  her  the  king's  sister  and 
the  Queen  of  Navarre ;  while  the  king's  brother  and  Anthony 
of  Navarre  occupied  similar  places  to  the  right  of  the  infant 
monarch.  At  the  end  of  the  platform  sat  the  Duke  of  Guise 
with  his  ivory  staff  as  grand-master  of  the  household;  at  his 
right  the  constable  with  the  naked  sword  of  state ;  at  his  left 
the  chancellor  with  his  golden  mace.  These  were  on  low- 
backed  chairs,  according  to  the  strict  etiquette  of  the  court ; 
all  the  other  members  of  the  States  sat  on  benches.  To  the 
right  of  the  throne  were  the  cardinals  in  their  robes  of  scarlet, 
and  the  high  dignitaries  of  the  Church ;  opposite  them,  the 

*  F.  Bourquelot :  Hist,  de  Provins,  ii.  p.  132.  An  ordonnance  of  1565 
throws  a  curious  light  on  the  morals  of  the  clergy : — "  Ad  instantiam 
promotoris  inhibitum  fuit  omnibus  et  singulis  hujus  ecclesiae  [St.  Quiriace 
at  Provins],  canonicis,  capellariis,  vicariis,  et  aliis  habituatis  (?)  ne,  quovis 
quaesito  colore,  audeant  mulieres  scandalosas  de  lapsu  et  incontinentia  car- 
nis,  quovis  modo  suspectas,  in  eorum  domos  claustrales  introducere  vel  in- 
tromittere,  et  si  quas  habeant,  illico  et  incontinent!  ejiciant  et  expellant,  sub 
pcena  excommunicationis  et  amcndse  summae  decem  librarum  et  amplius." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  151 

nobility  in  court  dresses  of  every  costly  material  and  hue. 
The  members  of  the  Third  Estate,  dressed  in  sober  garments, 
faced  the  throne.  Four  secretaries  of  state  were  present  to 
record  the  proceedings.  Soldiers  with  spear  and  cross-bow, 
halberd  and  partisan,  lined  the  walls ;  chamberlains  and  equer- 
ries, the  esquires  of  the  nobles,  and  the  chaplains  and  deacons 
in  attendance  upon  the  churchmen,  filled  up  the  hall.  A  little 
behind  the  throne  were  two  galleries  set  apart  for  the  ladies 
and  other  spectators,  among  whom  were  several  Huguenots 
of  mark,  whose  grave  faces  and  dress  seemed  almost  out  of 
place  among  their  brilliant  companions. 

The  proceedings  were  opened  by  an  address  from  the 
Chancellor  Michel  de  1'Hopital,  one  of  the  greatest  and 
noblest  men  of  the  sixteenth  century.  When  he  rose  to 
speak,  his  lofty  stature,  pale  face,  and  long  white  beard 
filled  the  spectators  with  admiration,  and  an  involuntary  mur- 
mur ran  through  the  assembly.  He  seemed  the  very  model 
of  a  senator  and  magistrate.  First  bending  the  knee  to  his 
royal  master,  and  then  seating  himself  again  at  the  king's 
desire,  he  proceeded  to  state  the  motives  that  had  induced  the 
government  to  call  the  Estates  together,  and  to  point  out 
very  explicitly  that  they  were  mere  "  counters  in  the  king's 
hands,"  and  that  their  sole  duty  was  to  "  petition  and  obey." 
It  did  not  occur  to  any  of  his  hearers  to  ask  why  they  were 
assembled  at  all  if  such  were  their  duties  and  position.  Ad- 
verting to  the  religious  dissensions,  the  chancellor  advised  the 
Catholic  members  "  to  adorn  themselves  with  virtue  and  holy 
living,"  and  to  attack  their  adversaries  with  arms  of  charity, 
prayer,  and  persuasion.  "  The  sword,"  he  added,  "  is  of 
little  avail  against  the  understanding;  gentleness  will  make 
more  converts  than  violence."  Yet  even  this  large-hearted 
man  could  not  see  the  possibility  of  two  forms  of  religion 
existing  side  by  side  in  the  same  state :  he  wanted  uniformity, 
where  he  should  have  been  satisfied  with  harmony.  "  It  is 
foolish,"  he  said,  "  to  look  for  peace,  repose,  and  friendship 
between  persons  of  different  creeds.  An  Englishman  and  a 


152  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Frenchman  may  live  together  on  good  terms,  but  not  two 
people  of  different  religions,  who  dwell  in  the  same  city. 
One  faith,  one  law,  one  king."  For  this  reason  he  proposed  a 
national  council,  which  might  reform  abuses,  and  so  reconcile 
the  two  parties,  adding  "  that  if  the  pope  did  not  call  one  the 
king  would."  The  chancellor  concluded  his  long  harangue  by 
drawing  their  attention  to  the  disordered  state  of  the  finances. 
"  No  orphan  was  ever  more  destitute  of  resources  than  ouryoung 
king,"  he  said.  The  public  debt  amounted  to  forty-three 
million  livres,  paying  the  enormous  though  ordinary  rate  of 
interest,  namely,  twelve  per  cent.  Nor  was  it  easy  to  see  how 
such  a  debt  could  be  met,  considering  that  the  expenditure 
exceeded  twenty-two  million  livres,  while  the  total  annual  reve- 
nue barely  amounted  to  twelve  millions.* 

The  assembly  now  broke  up,  the  three  Estates  proceeding 
to  their  separate  deliberations:  the  Clergy  in  the  refectory 
of  the  Franciscans,  the  Nobles  at  the  Dominicans',  and  the 
Tiers  Etat  at  the  Carmelites'.f  The  first  act  of  each  body 
was  to  choose  its  orator  or  speaker.  The  Clergy  elected  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  and  recommended  the  other  two 
orders  to  concur  in  their  choice.  This  they  refused  to  do,J 
on  the  ground  that  they  might  have  something  to  say  against 
him  § — a  hint  which  drove  the  cardinal  from  Orleans.  Jean 
Quentin,  a  canon  of  Notre  Dame,  was  elected  in  his  place, 
the  Nobles  having  chosen  Jacques  de  Silly,  baron  of  Roche- 
fort  ;  and  the  Third  Estate,  an  advocate  of  Bordeaux,  named 
Lange  (Angelus)  or  Langin. 

On  the  1st  January,  1561,  the  Three  Estates  assembled  again 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  castle,  where  the  king  attended  to  hear 
the  Speakers  of  the  orders  deliver  their  addresses.  Jean  Lange 

*  On  the  calculation  that  a  livre  would  purchase  as  much  in  1560  as 
twelve  francs  would  now,  the  debt  was  equivalent  to  twenty  millions  sterling. 

t  MSS.  L'Ordre  et  Seance,  etc. 

t  "  Ipsius  audaciam  nobilitas  et  plebs  magno  cum  fremitu  repulissent." 
Beza  to  Bullinger ;  Baum's  Beza,  ii.  p.  20,  App. 

§  "Habere  quasdam  in  mandatis  qua?  contra  ipsum  card,  promere  jube- 
bantur."  Thuanus,  v.  lib.  27,  p.  14  (Paris,  1G09). 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.     153 

began  by  denouncing  "  the  three  ruling  passions  of  the  clergy 
— ignorance,  avarice,  and  wantonness.  Livings  are  given  to 
those  who  have. never  learned.  Bishops  transfer  their  duties 
to  unworthy  deputies ;  while  the  prelates  ruin  themselves  by 
prodigality  and  loose  living.  These  things  can  only  be  re- 
formed by  means  of  a  council  —  a  national  council."  He 
went  on  farther  to  demand  the  restitution  to  the  clergy  of 
the  right  of  electing  the  bishops,  as  in  the  tune  of  the 
primitive  Church,  the  dedication  of  a  portion  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical property  to  the  foundation  of  hospitals,  colleges,  and 
schools,  the  suppression  of  every  kind  of  tribute  or  payment  to 
the  court  of  Rome,  and  a  check  upon  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles 
over  the  peasantry.  Of  the  sufferings  of  this  class,  Lange's 
cahier  presented  a  distressing  picture.  It  may  be  overcolored, 
but  its  substantial  truth  is  unfortunately  established  By  other 
evidence.  "  Some  poor  creatures,"  he  said, "  having  been  rob- 
bed of  their  little  store  to  pay  their  taxes,  have  starved  to 
death  during  the  winter.  Others  in  despair  have  murdered 
their  wives  and  children  and  then  themselves.  Others  have 
been  dragged  to  prison  and  there  left  to  die  for  want  of  food. 
Some  have  forsaken  their  families  and  fled.  Many  are  in  such 
distress,  that,  having  neither  horse  nor  ox,  they  are  constrained 
to  harness  their  own  bodies  to  the  plough."  The  last  of  the 
three  hundred  and  fifty  articles  of  this  cahier  contained  a  de- 
mand which  would  have  changed  the  current  of  French  his- 
tory had  it  been  granted :  it  was  that  the  States-General  should 
be  held  every  five  years. 

Jacques  de  Silly,  the  orator  of  the  Nobility,  began  by  mak- 
ing a  preposterous  defense  of  the  divine  origin  of  his  order, 
and  went  on  to  accuse  the  Clergy  of  encroaching  on  the  power 
of  the  judicial  tribunals.*  "  It  is  your  business,"  he  said,  "  not 
to  interfere  with  edicts,  but  to  pray,  preach,  and  administer  the 
sacraments."  The  Nobility  were  more  eager  for  change  than 

*  The  assembly  acted  up  to  this  principle  by  ordering  (7th  January)  the 
release  of  all  prisoners  confined  on  account  of  religion ;  but  it  was  done 
secretly  "  for  fear  of  scandal." 


154  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  Tiers  Etat.  Those  of  Touraine  demanded  a  church  reform 
in  conformity  with  the  pure  word  of  God  ;  others,  that  ah1  re- 
ligious differences  should  be  decided  by  the  Bible  alone. 

The  Clergy  wisely  thought  that  their  best  policy  would  be 
to  stand  mainly  on  the  defensive.*  Their  orator,  Jean  Quentin, 
who  read  his  speech,  acknowledged  that  their  discipline  needed 
correction,  but  that  such  a  reform  could  not  be  brought  about 
by  profaning  the  churches,  destroying  the  images,  and  expelling 
the  priests.  "  I  contend,"  he  said, "  that  it  is  necessary  to  pre- 
serve the  Catholic  religion  in  France,  and  consequently  to  re- 
fuse liberty  of  conscience  to  such  as  dissent  from  it."  He  then 
argued  that  all  ecclesiastical  property  ought  to  be  used  accord- 
ing to  the  wishes  of  the  donors,  and  that  the  clergy  should  be 
relieved  of  the  decimes  and  other  imposts  by  which  they  were 
oppressed.  In  the  course  of  his  speech,  Quentin  went  out  of 
his  way  to  insult  Coligny,  as  a  "  reviver  of  old  heresies ;"  and 
advised  "  that  any  one  petitioning  for  freedom  of  worship 
should  be  declared  heretical,  and  proceeded  against  according- 
ly, so  that  the  evil  might  be  removed  from  among  us."f  He 
gave  point  to  his  words  by  looking  at  the  admiral,  who  com- 
plained of  such  language  and  demanded  an  apology,  which  was 
made.  This  humiliation,  added  to  the  satires  and  epigrams 
showered  upon  him  by  the  offended  Huguenots,  gave  poor 
Quentin  such  a  shock  that  he  is  reported  to  have  died  a  few 
days  after. 

In  the  last  sitting  of  the  Estates  the  Abbot  of  Bois  Aubry, 
secretary  of  the  Clergy  in  the  preparation  of  their  cahier, 
strongly  condemned  the  use  of  force  in  religious  matters. 
"  The  conscience,"  he  said,  "  suffers  no  one  to  command  it 
but  reason ;  and  therefore  to  desire  in  our  days  to  deprive 
the  followers  of  the  pretended  Reformed  religion  of  the  exer- 
cise of  their  reason  can  produce  nothing  but  evil.  It  would 
be  driving  them  to  atheism; — a  thing  which  every  good 

*  The  language  of  their  cahiers  was  more  moderate  than  Quentin's  speech ; 
but  in  the  text  they  have,  for  obvious  reasons,  been  treated  as  one  document, 
t  "Ut  auferatur  malum  de  medio  nostri." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  155 

Catholic  should  hold  in  horror  and  execration.  ...  It  is 
only  by  means  of  a  Council  that  we  can  remedy  the  evil  of  relig- 
ious diversity  now  among  us,  and  not  by  the  sword  or  the 
gibbet.  Nine  royal  edicts  were  issued  during  the  former 
reigns,  and  the  courts  of  Parliament  have  published  decrees 
without  number,  in  order  to  abolish  this  so-called  Reformed 
religion,  by  the  punishment  of  fire  and  other  severe  pains  and 
penalties.  They  omitted  nothing  to  prevent  its  growth,  and 
did  not  succeed.  Our  Holy  Father  (it  is  said)  will  never 
consent  to  permit  the  exercise  of  their  religion ;  but  what 
answer  would  he  make  if  any  one  should  ask  him  why  he 
allows  the  Jews  the  exercise  of  their  religion  at  Rome  and 
Avignon,  and  in  all  the  States  of  the  Church  ?  Would  he  say 
that  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  who  do  not  believe  in  Christ,  is 
better  than  the  religion  of  those  who  do  believe  in  him  ?" 

The  Estates  separated  Avithout  settling  any  thing  :  they  did 
nothing  toward  reconciling  the  two  religious  parties  or  reliev- 
ing the  finances  of  the  kingdom.  They  called  for  the  redress 
of  many  grievances ;  and  when  the  court  would  have  been 
willing  to  concede  a  few  reforms  in  exchange  for  pecuniary 
supplies,  the  Estates  said  that  their  instructions,  which  they 
could  not  exceed,  gave  them  no  power  or  authority  to  raise 
money.  They  thus  virtually  threw  away  "  the  keys  of  the 
purse  " — the  most  potent  guarantee  of  good  government.  It 
was  a  fatal  mistake,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  court  ob- 
served it  any  more  than  the  Estates.  The  government  saw 
only  that  the  States-General  was  a  body  too  numerous  for 
the  dispatch  of  business,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  provin- 
cial Estates,  grouped  into  thirteen  assemblies,  should  each 
elect  three  deputies,  and  that  the  thirty-nine  thus  returned 
should  meet  in  the  following  August.  The  bishops  were  also 
convoked  to  this  assembly,  and  a  great  number  of  them 
actually  obeyed  the  summons. 

The  meeting  of  the  States-General  did  not  quiet  the  agita- 
tion in  the  provinces.  The  war  of  words  soon  became  a  war 
of  blows,  and  sei'ious  riots  occurred  in  many  large  towns. 


156  MASSACEE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

At  Beauvais,  Cardinal  Chatillon,  the  admiral's  brother,  near- 
ly lost  his  life,  because  on  Easter  Sunday  he  had  celebrated 
divine  service  in  his  private  chapel  and  not  in  the  cathe- 
dral, and  had  administered  the  holy  communion  in  both  kinds, 
after  the  Huguenot  fashion.  The  mob  broke  into  the  houses 
of  some  persons  suspected  of  heresy,  and  catching  one  Adrian 
Fourre,  a  priest,  they  killed  him,  and  were  dragging  him  to 
the  voirie  to  bum  him,  when  the  public  executioner  inter- 
fered, asserted  his  rights,  and  burned  the  body  himself  amid 
the  shouts  of  the  populace.  Some  of  the  rioters  were  after- 
ward hanged,  when  the  fanatic  people  rose  and  hanged  the 
executioner.  At  Le  Mans  a  Protestant  was  killed,  and  the 
bishop  did  not  scruple  to  write  to  the  king,  asking  pardon  for 
the  murderers.  At  Rennes,  the  Huguenots  ventured  to  wor- 
ship openly,  for  which  they  were  attacked  by  a  "  noisy  bawl- 
ing bully"  of  a  grey  friar,  who  exhorted  his  hearers  to  fall 
irpon  them  by  night.  The  municipal  officers  did  not  attempt 
to  silence  him,  fearing  that  if  they  should  not  succeed  they 
would  next  day  be  "  publicly  and  scandalously  preached  at 
before  the  people."*  In  December,  1560,  an  image  of  the 
Virgin  was  found  lying  in  the  kennel  at  Carcassonne.  The 
sacrilege  was  imputed  to  the  Huguenots,  and  the  mob  rose 
upon  them,  and  many  were  killed.  One  man  had  his  mouth 
cut  from  ear  to  ear,  and  an  iron  bit  was  fastened  into  it. 
The  town  hangman  murdered  five  Huguenots,  whom  he 
skinned,  and  then  ate  the  heart  of  one  of  them.  He  also 
sawed  another,  a  private  enemy,  in  two. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  the  provocation  and 
insult  were  all  on  one  side.  On  the  25th  March,  1561,  the 
high  bailiff  of  Blois  sent  the  queen-mother  a  long  account  of 
the  mischievous  doings  and  profanity  of  the  Huguenots ;  how 
they  had  broken  open  churches,  shattered  images  and  cruci- 
fixes, and  carried  away  thirteen  young  women  from  the  con- 


,*  Lobirteau,  Hist.  Bretagne,  ii.  280  ;  Bertrand  d'Argentre  to  the  Duke  of 
Estampes. 


MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  157 

vent  of  Guiche.  Even  in  Paris,  the  hot-bed  of  Romish  fanat- 
icism, the  Huguenots  broke  the  images  set  up  in  the  streets, 
and  in  some  of  the  churches.  They  also  held  tumultuous 
meetings  in  the  Pre  aux  Clercs,  which  were  at  last  put  down. 
The  government,  desirous  of  acting  with  mildness  in  the  dis- 
tracted state  of  the  country,  had  summoned  a  meeting  of  the 
Privy  Council  on  the  very  day  of  the  dissolution  of  the  States- 
General  of  Orleans,  in  order  to  take  into  consideration  the 
petitions  of  the  Huguenots  for  leave  to  celebrate  their  worship 
in  private.  The  prayer  was  refused,  for  the  Lorraine  party 
was  still  strong ;  but  the  queen-mother  not  long  after  issued  a 
general  pardon,  liberating  all  persons  who  had  been  impris- 
oned for  their  religion,  and  commanding  the  magistrates  to 
restore  the  property  of  which  the  lawful  owners  had  been  de- 
prived in  consequence  of  their  heretical  opinions.  At  the 
same  time  all  the  king's  siibjects  were  exhorted  to  conform 
to  the  rites  and  usages  of  the  national  Church,  and  the  penal- 
ty of  death  was  denounced  against  those  who,  under  pretense 
of  supporting  the  interests  of  religion,  should  disturb  the  pub- 
lic tranquillity.  As  this  was  not  a  sufficient  protection  to  the 
Reformed  party,  letters  patent  were  issued  in  April,  repeating 
the  former  salutary  provisions,  forbidding  men  to  revile  each 
other  with  the  odious  appellations  of  Papist  and  Huguenot,  or 
to  assemble  in  large  bodies,  or  to  make  domiciliary  visits 
under  pretense  of  discovering  religious  practices  contrary  to 
law ;  and  permitting  the  return  of  all  who  had  been  forced  to 
leave  the  kingdom  in  consequence  of  their  opinions,  provided 
they  were  willing  to  conform  externally  to  the  Catholic  relig- 
ion. Such  persons  as  would  not  submit  to  these  regulations 
had  liberty  to  sell  their  property  and  leave  France.  The  re- 
vised edict  was  ordered  to  be  read  in  all  the  churches,  and  a 
cordelier  at  Provins  introduced  it  in  the  following  grotesque 
terms :  "  My  dear  Christian  brethren,  I  have  received  instruc- 
tions to  read  an  edict  ordering  the  cats  and  mice  to  live  in 
peace  together,  and  that  we  in  France — that  is  to  say,  the  Her- 
etics and  the  Catholics — should  do  the  same,  and  that  such  is 


158  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  king's  pleasure.     I  am  sorry  for  it,  and  I  am  grieved  to 
see  the  new  reign  begin  so  unpromisingly." 

Even  the  small  concessions  made  by  this  edict  were  severe- 
ly blamed  by  the  pope  and  the  King  of  Spain ;  *  while  numer- 
ous outbreaks  in  various  parts  of  France — bloody  protests 
against  toleration,  like  our  own  Gordon  riots — showed  that 
the  people  were  very  much  divided  in  their  sentiments  upon 
it.  In  order,  therefore,  to  tranquillize  the  public  mind,  the 
chancellor  advised  the  queen-mother  to  consult  the  Parliament 
of  Paris  on  the  best  means  of  suppressing  these  religious  dis- 
orders. A  solemn  meeting  was  held  in  July  (1561),  Charles, 
Catherine,  and  the  chief  nobility  being  present.  The  debate, 
which  De  FHopital  opened  with  a  wise  and  conciliatory  ad- 
dress, was  long  and  stormy.  "  We  have  not  met  to  discuss 
points  of  doctrine,"  he  said,  "  but  to  deliberate  on  the  best 
means  of  preventing  the  dissensions  occasioned  by  the  differ- 
ence of  religious  opinion,  and  to  put  an  end  to  the  license  and 
rebellion  of  which  that  difference  has  hitherto  proved  a  con- 
stant source.  The  devil  has  entered  into  these  contests,  and 
no  one  thinks  of  reforming  himself."  In  other  words,  relig- 
ion was  a  mere  pretext.  The  parliament  was  much  divided : 
some  contended  that  the  edicts  against  the  Huguenots  ought  to 
be  wholly  suspended  until  a  meeting  of  the  National  Council; 
another  that  they  should  be  carried  out  more  strictly ;  while 
a  third  party  were  of  opinion  that  the  sole  cognizance  of  her- 
esy should  be  assigned  to  the  bishops,  and  that  a  severe  penal- 
ty, short  of  death,  should  be  inflicted  upon  all  who  assembled, 
even  peacefully,  for  religious  worship.f  This  proposal  was 
carried  by  a  majority  of  three  votes,  and  the  result  was  the 
Edict  of  July,  15  61,  forbidding,  under  pain  of  death v  the  use 
of  insulting  terms,  and  any  act  of  violence  under  color  of  re- 

*  Chantonnay  to  Catherine,  22d  April,  15G1 ;  Mem  de  Conde,  ii.  p.  6. 

fit  is  hinted  in  a  contemporary  letter,  that  many  feared  to  speak  their 
minds  lest  they  should  be  treated  like  Du  Bourg.  Languet  disapproves  of 
the  Edict  of  July,  and  says  of  Catherine :  "  Non  mihi  videtur  caute  cgissc." 
Lib.  ii.  Ep.  liv.  p.  137. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  159 

ligion.  All  public  and  private  meetings  were  interdicted; 
the  bishops  were  still  to  take  cognizance  of  the  crime  of  here- 
sy, but  the  penalties  were  restricted  to  banishment ;  and,  final- 
ly, the  king  granted  a  general  amnesty,  on  condition  that 
every  body  lived  peaceably  and  catholically.  The  Huguenots 
gamed  little  by  this  decree  beyond  the  abolition  of  the  death 
penalty  in  cases  of  heresy ;  indeed,  it  actually  diminished  the 
toleration  they  already  enjoyed ;  and  yet  the  Parliament  of 
Paris  would  only  register  it  provisionally,  on  the  ground  that 
it  was  too  favorable.  That  this  opinion  Avas  not  shared  by  the 
Huguenots  is  clear  from  a  hymn  written  on  the  occasion,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  portion : 

Quant  a  moi,  je  ne  peux  vivre 

Qu'avec  ce  qu'il  interdit ; 
Aussi  le  mien  corps  je  livre 

Aux  peines  de  son  Edit. 
Qu'il  me  commando  exiler, 
Qu'il  fasse  mes  os  brftler, 
Qu'il  m'etrangle  d'une  corde, 
Je  le  veux  et  m'y  accorde.  .  .  . 

N'aie  done,  6  peuple,  crainte 

Du  supplice  qui  t'attend, 
Car  cette  dure  contrainte 

Jusqu'a  1'ame  ne  s'etend. 

That  the  restrictions  and  penalties  of  the  July  edict  were  un- 
necessary is  clear  enough  from  indisputable  contemporaneous 
evidence.  On  April  25th  of  this  very  year  De  Crussol  wrote 
to  the  queen-regent  from  Montpellier,  that  the  Reformed  had 
petitioned  him  to  be  allowed  to  live  hi  peace ;  that  he  found  in 
them  nothing  but  "  great  obedience  and  reverence,"  and  that 
they  were  loyal  subjects.  He  goes  on  to  complain  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Toulouse,  infringing  the  edict  and  detaining  the  Hu- 
guenots in  prison :  "  It  looks  as  if  they  wanted  to  amend  the 
said  edict,  or  to  make  a  new  one."  Six  months  later  we  find 
Prosper  de  Sainte  Croix  (Santa  Croce),  the  papal  legate, 
equally  emphatic  in  his  praise  of  the  Reformed.  Writing  to 
Cardinal  Borromeo,  the  pope's  nephew,  on  the  16th  October, 
1561, he  says:  "In  Gascony  and  other  places, I  saw  no  muti- 


160  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

lated  images,  no  broken  crosses,  no  deserted  churches,  as  I  had 
been  told  I  should ; "  and  then  proceeds  to  speak  of  the  prop- 
er feeling  of  the  people  on  the  matter  where  a  cross  had  been 
broken. 

Ever  since  the  accession  of  Charles  IX.  the  Huguenots  had 
been  growing  in  favor  at  court,  and  the  true  cause  of  this  fa- 
vor was  not  far  to  seek.  Philip  II.  was  known  to  be  intriguing 
with. the  Guises  to  marry  the  widowed  Mary  Stuart  to  his  son 
Don  Carlos.  This  was  the  first  step  in  a  wTell-devised  plot  to 
aggrandize  Spain  and  crush  the  Reformation.  By  this  mar- 
riage Philip  would  become  master  of  Scotland,  paralyze  En- 
gland by  exciting  the  hopes  of  the  Romanists  in  both  countries, 
and  prevent  Elizabeth  from  sending  aid  to  the  rebels  in  Flan- 
ders. The  influence  of  the  Guises  would  also  be  so  far  increased 
that  France  would  be  entirely  under  their  control.  All  this 
Catherine  saw,  and  to  checkmate  Spain  she  drew  nearer  to  En- 
gland, and  only  three  years  later  (Sept.  1564)  actually  proposed 
a  marriage  between  Charles  IX.  and  Elizabeth.* 

The  favor  shown  to  the  Huguenots  greatly  annoyed  the  or- 
thodox party.  Old  Montmorency  was  greatly  scandalized  that 
Conde,  Coligny,  and  others  ate  meat  in  Lent ;  and  that  Arch- 
bishop Montluc,  brother  of  the  brutal  soldier  of  that  name, 
openly  preached  that  it  was  not  wrong  to  pray  to  God  in  French, 
and  that  the  Scriptures  ought  to  be  translated  into  the  vulgar 
tongue.  The  halls  of  St.  Germain's  and  Fontainebleau  were 
thrown  open  to  Huguenot  ministers,  and  "  it  seemed  as  if  the 
whole  court  had  become  Calvinist,"  says  the  Jesuit  Maiinbourg. 
Catherine  received  the  Protestant  leaders  with  favor,  and  as- 
sumed the  character  of  a  devout  inquirer  after  truth.f  Chan- 

*  Mem.  de  Castelnau;  see  also  Mignet,  Journ.des  Savants,  1847,  pp.  651- 
G59.  In  a  letter  (dated  1565)  Castelnau  says  of  Elizabeth:  "Je  ne  la  vis 
jamais  plus  belle  ni  plus  jolie,  et  vous  promets  qu'il  y  a  telle  fille  de  quinze 
ans,  qui  pense  etre  belle,  qui  n'en  approche  point.  An  reste,  ellc  a  de 
grandes  et  rares  vertus,  et  vn  grand,  royaume  "  (no  doubt  in  his  eyes  her  great- 
est virtue). 

t  "Ellc  leur  donne  a  entendre  qu'elle  veut  faire  instruire  le  roi  son  fils  en 
leur  religion."  Dlscours  Merveilleux,  p.  xxi.  On  this  matter  we  may  sup- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  161 

tonnay,  the  Spanish  embassador,  scarcely  wrote  a  letter  to  his 
royal  master  in  which  he  did  not  complain  of  the  toleration 
shown  to  heretics,  *  and  of  the  influence  of  the  admiral,  whose 
chaplain  often  preached  to  a  congregation  of  more  than  300 
persons.  Another  time  he  writes  :  "  The  day  after  Easter  Sun- 
day the  public  preachings  in  the  great  court  of  Fontainebleau, 
before  the  lodgings  of  Admiral  Coligny,  in  the  presence  of  M. 
de  Conde,  have  been  forbidden."  On  the  9th  July  he  says  that 
not  a  day  passes  without  preaching  "  in  the  mansion  of  some 
lord  or  lady  of  the  court."  The  same  busy  correspondent  in- 
forms us  that  in  August,  1561,  Beza  preached  in  the  hotel  of 
the  Prince-  of  Conde  at  St.  Germains  and  in  the  royal  palace, 
and  that  the  Reformed  ministers  "  were  more  confident  than 
the  Catholic."  At  another  time  we. read  that,  in  consequence 
of  the  favor  shown  to  the  heretics,  there  had  occurred  every  day 
at  Paris  and  elsewhere,  "  seditions,  tumults,  and  murders  of 
Protestants  and  Catholics."f  A  little  later  Chantonnay  men- 
tions that  certain  bishops,  adopting  the  doctrine  and  language  of 
the  heretics,  called  for  reform  in  the  Church ;  and  that  the  clergy 
were  made  a  laughing-stock  in  the  presence  even  of  the  papal 
legate.  "  After  supper  the  other  evening,  when  the  cardinal- 
legate  was  with  the  queen,  the  king,  his  brother  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  and  the  Prince  of  Beam,  entered  the  room,  followed 
by  many  others,  all  of  them  dressed  up  as  cardinals,  bishops, 
abbots,  and  priests,  riding  upon  asses,  and  each  carrying  on  the 
crupper  behind  him  a  page  dressed  as  a  loose  woman.  J  There 

pose  the  writer  of  that  scurrilous  pamphlet  to  be  well  informed,  though  we 
may  doubt  Catherine's  sincerity.  See  also  Agrippa  d'Aubigne'  (liv.  iv.  ch. 
3)  on  the  "langage  de  Canaan"  the  queen  employed  in  her  conversations 
with  the  Protestant  pastors.  See  also  Laboureur  (i.  p.  283),  where  she  is 
described  ns  ''infected  with  this  venom." 

*  Chantonnay  advised  that  the  heretics  should  be  punished,  Catherine  re- 
plied :  "  II  n'etait  pas  possible,  vu  le  grand  nombre.  .  .  .  sans  miner  toutc 
chose  et  exciter  line  guerre  civile."  Lett,  of  8th  January,  ]">G1  ;  Mem  d>> 
Conde,  ii.  p.  G01. 

t  Mem  de,  Conde,  ii.  p.  11. 

J  "  Vestido  como  putas."  Chantonnay  to  Philip  IT.,  28th  October,  1561  ; 
Simancas  Archives:  Journal des  Savans,  1859,  p.  159. 

L 


162  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

was  a  good  laugh  at  it,  and  they  continue  to  amuse  themselves, 
calling  the  Prince  of  Bearn  legate,  because  he  was  dressed  as 
a  cardinal."  The  nuncio  complained  of  this  masque,  for  which 
Catherine  apologized  as  being  "  only  a  childish  jest."  Margaret 
of  Valois,  afterward  wife  of  Henry  IV.,  writes  in  her  memoirs 
that  "  all  the  court  was  infected  with  heresy,"  that  "  many  of 
the  lords  and  ladies  tried  to  convert  her,"  that  "  her  brother  of 
Anjou  [afterward  Henry  III.]  had  not  escaped  the  unhappy 
influence,  and  that  he  used  to  throw  her  prayer-book  into  the 
fire  and  give  her  Huguenot  hymns  instead."  Considering  that 
Margaret  was  at  this  time  barely  eight  years  old,  her  testi- 
mony, given  nearly  forty  years  later,  is  of  little  value,  except  as 
corroborating  from  another  point  of  view,  the  evidence  of  other 
witnesses.  The  Duke  of  Bouillon  writes  in  his  memoirs,  that 
another  of  Margaret's  brothers,  Alen9on, "  favored  the  cause  of 
the  Religion."  *  From  all  this  it  is  pretty  clear  that  France,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  new  reign,  was  on  the  brink  of  great 
changes,  and  that,  if  Catherine  had  been  a  woman  of  good  prin- 
ciples, the  current  of  French  history  would  have  been  turned 
into  another  and  a  better  channel.  The  Huguenots,  believing 
her  to  be  sincere  in  her  protestations,  exhorted  her  "  to  say  but 
one  word,  and  Christ  would  be  worshiped  in  truth  and  purity 
throughout  the  kingdom."  But  that  word  the  queen-mother 
had  no  intention  of  uttering.  Like  many  of  those  trained  be- 
neath the  shadow  of  St.  Peter's,  she  was  outwardly  fervent 
enough, "  pious  after  the  Italian  fashion,"  but  at  heart  she  be- 
lieved more  in  witchcraft  and  astrology  than  in  God. 

Preparatory  to  the  reassembling  of  the  States- General,  it 
had  been  thought  advisable  to  call  together  the  provincial  as- 
semblies with  the  view  of  coming  to  an  understanding  regard- 
ing the  matters  to  be  brought  before  the  general  body.  Each 

*In  1561,  Michcli,  the  Venetian  cmbnssador,  says  that  three-fourths  of 
the  kingdom  are  filled  with  heresy.  They  met  and  preached  without  any 
regard  to  the  royal  prohibition ;  and  he  notes  it  as  very  remarkable,  that 
"priests,  monks,  and  nuns,  and  even  bishops,  and  many  of  the  most  distin- 
guished prelates,  had  caught  the  infection.  .  .  .  Excepting  the  common 
herd,  all  have  fallen  away." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  163 

locality  had  its  grievances  and  its  remedies  to  propose,  the 
clergy  being  the  chief  object  of  attack.  But  an  unexpected 
turn  was  given  to  the  course  of  events  by  the  constituency  of 
the  Isle  of  France,  who  suggested  the  propriety  of  making 
those  court  favorites  disgorge,  who  had  been  enriched  by  the 
prodigality  of  former  reigns.*  The  idea  of  being  called  upon 
to  restore  his  ill-gotten  gains  alarmed  Montmorency,  not  only 
for  himself  but  for  his  son,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of 
the  notorious  Diana  of  Poitiers.  He  was  also  offended  by 
the  Huguenot  opinions  of  his  nephews,  the  Chatillons,  and 
the  favor  shown  them  by  the  queen-mother.  In  such  a  state 
of  mind'  it  needed  bu£  little  persuasion  on  the  part  of  Diana 
— fit  instrument  for  such  a  scheme — to  reconcile  the  consta- 
ble with  the  Lorraines.  A  common  danger  drew  them  close 
together,  and  that  fatal  TRIUMVIRATE  was  formed  which 
brought  so  much  evil  upon  France,  f  In  token  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  as  a  pledge  of  mutual  support,  Montmorency,  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  and  Marshal  St.  Andre  took  the  sacrament  to- 
gether. The  constable,  who  feared  that  a  religious  would 
lead  to  a  political  change,  carried  the  whole  weight  of  his  in- 
fluence to  the  Catholic  side,  toward  which  the  King  of  Na- 
varre was  gradually  inclining.  His  brother  Conde,  aided  by 
Colighy,  alone  resisted  the  violent  proposals  of  the  Romish 
party,  and  advocated  the  assembling  of  a  national  council  to 
arrange  the  religious  differences,  in  which  course  they  were 
supported  by  petitions  from  the  Huguenots  too  numerous  to 
be  neglected.  To  gratify  so  just  a  request,  a  meeting  of  the 
clergy  was  summoned,  at  which  a  number  of  Protestant  di- 
vines were  to  appear  to  explain  and  defend  their  doctrine. 

In  the  interval  came  the  meeting  of  the  States  of  Pontoise 
(17th  August,  1561),  and  their  first  step  was  to  confirm  the 
minutes  of  the  Orleans  meeting.  The  chancellor,  who  had 

• 

*  The  queeiuinothcr  was  specially  exceptcd. 

f  There  were  actually  six  confederates,  the  three  others  being  Cardinal 
Tournon,  Marshal  Brissac,  and  M.  dc  Montpensier.  Chantonnay  to  Phil- 
ip II.,  9th  April,  1561 ;  Bouille,  ii.  132. 


164  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

grown  in  wisdom  and  toleration,  said  in  his  opening  speech  : 
"  I  do  not  understand  those  who  desire  to  exclude  the  new 
religion  from  the  kingdom — to  issue  edict  after  edict  against 
it.  Our  only  concern  is,  to  learn  whether  the  interests  of.  the 
state  are  best  served  by  the  permission,  or  by  the  prohibition 
of  the  meetings  of  the  Calvinists.  To  decide  this,  we  need 
not  inquire  into  their  doctrine ;  for  supposing  the  Reformed 
religion  to  be  bad,  is  that  a  sufficient  reason  for  proscribing 
its  professors  ?  Is  it  not  possible  to  be  a  good  subject  with- 
out being  a  Catholic  or  even  a  Christian?  Can  not  fellow- 
citizens,  differing  in  religious  opinions,  still  live  in  harmony  ? 
We  have  met  not  to  establish  articles  of  faith,  but  to  regulate 
the  state." 

The  orator  of  the  nobility  demanded,  with  the  almost 
unanimous  consent  of  the  order,  that  all  religious  controversies 
should  be  decided  in  conformity  with  Holy  Scripture ;  *  that 
heresy  should  no  longer  be  considered  an  offense  against  the 
state;  and  that  the  Apostles'  and  the  Athanasian  Creeds 
should  be  the  only  test  of  orthodoxy.  The  nobles  also  called 
for  reforms  in  the  judicature  and  in  the  government,  but  their 
scope  belongs  rather  to  the  political  than  the  religious  history 
of  the  times. 

The  orator  of  the  Tiers  Etat  demanded  still  greater  changes : 
such  as  a  national  council,  under  the  royal  presidency,  in 
which  all  the  controverted  questions  should  be  decided  by 
the  Word  of  God  ;  and  a  cessation  of  persecution,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  unreasonable  to  force  any  man  to  do  what 
his  conscience  condemned.  The  Third  Estate  farther  pro- 
posed that  cardinals  and  bishops  should  be  disqualified  for 
seats  in  the  royal  council ;  that  the  States-General  should  be 
convened  every  two  years  ;  and  that  the  Reformed  should  en- 
joy full  liberty  of  worship,  either  in  the  existing  churches,  or 
in  such  as  they  might  build  for  themselves.  "As  both  relig- 
ions have  the  same  foundation,"  said  one  speaker,  "  there  is 

*  "Tons  articles  .  .  .  soient  decides  et  resolus  par  la  senle  parole  de 
Dieu."  Bibl.  Impe'r.  8927,  Etats  de  Pontoisc. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  165 

no  reason  why  they  should  hate  and  persecute  one  another. 
Perseverance  in  penal  enactments  will  kindle  a  fire  which  no 
power  under  heaven  can  extinguish. "  After  suggesting  vari- 
ous ecclesiastical  reforms,  he  continued :  "  If  the  king  wants 
money,  let  him  do  as  they  have  done  in  Germany  and  England 
— take  the  money  that  makes  the  Church  luxurious.  One- 
third  of  what  it  possesses  is  enough  for  its  wants.  The  peo- 
ple are  ruined  and  can  pay  no  more  taxes."  The  idea  of  pay- 
ing their  debts  and  getting  rich  by  seizing  the  property  of  the 
clergy  pleased  even  the  orthodox ;  but  the  churchmen  caught 
the  alarm,  and  set  every  engine  at  work  to  ward  off  the  threat- 
ened blow.  The  property  of  the  Church  was  valued  at  one 
hundred  and  twenty  millions.  Out  of  this  it  was  proposed  to 
allot  forty-eight  millions,  which  would  produce  a  revenue  of 
four  millions  for  the  clergy,  and  which,  men  argued,  was  quite 
ample  for  their  support.  Forty-two  millions  were  to  be  appro- 
priated to  the  payment  of  the  debt,  and  the  balance  of  thirty 
millions  would,  if  judiciously  distributed  in  loans  among  the 
chief  cities  of  France,  develop  trade  and  increase  the  general 
wealth  of  the  country,  while  the  interest  would  suffice  to  pay 
the  army  and  keep  the  fortresses  in  repair.  To  carry  out 
such  a  sweeping  confiscation  required  a  strong  government* 
and  then  it  could  be  done  only  at  the  risk  of  a  revolution ; 
but  the  very  proposal  made  the  clergy  more  willing  to  take 
their  share  of  the  public  burdens,  and  they  offered  not  only 
to  redeem  at  their  own  cost  all  the  royal  domains  pawned  or 
mortgaged  by  the  crown,  but  to  pay  annually  for  six  years  a 
tribute  of  sixteen  hundred  thousand  livres.  The  queen-regent 
having  thus  obtained  the  necessary  supplies,  and  a  promise  of 
more,  the  popular  demands  (with  a  few  trivial  exceptions) 
were  evaded,  but  liberty  of  conscience  was  promised.  If  the 
meetings  at  Orleans  and  Pontoise  did  not  effect  much  good, 
they  materially  promoted  the  interests  of  the  Huguenots  by 
recognizing  the  great  principle  of  toleration,  though  more 
than  two  centuries  were  to  pass  away  before  it  was  fully  car- 
ried out. 


166  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

As  soon  as  the  meetings  at  Pontoise  were  ended,  all  eyes 
were  turned  to  the  approaching  colloquy  to  be  held  at  Poissy. 
The  clergy,  in  return  for  their  liberal  contribution  toward  the 
burdens  of  the  state,  had  called  for  the  thorough  execution  of 
the  Edict  of  July.  "JVon  impetrarunt"  says  Beza  laconical- 
ly. The  regent  took  the  money,  but  answered  their  prayer  in 
very  vague  terms.  What  she  really  thought  of  the  matters  in 
dispute  between  the  two  religious  parties  may  be  gathered 
from  her  instructions  to  Cardinal  Ferrara  to  be  laid  before  the 
pope  (4th  August,  1561) : — "The  number  of  those  professing 
the  Reformed  religion  is  so  great,  and  their  party  is  so  pow- 
erful, that  they  are  no  longer  to  be  put  down  by  severe  laws 
or  force  of  arms.  They  are  neither  anabaptists  nor  libertines  ; 
they  believe  all  the  articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  there- 
fore many  are  of  opinion  that  they  ought  not  to  be  cut  off 
from  communion  with  the  Church.  What  danger  can  there  be 
in  removing  the  images  from  the  churches,  and  doing  away 
with  certain  useless  forms  in  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments ?  It  would  farther  be  advantageous  to  allow  to  all  per- 
sons the  communion  under  both  kinds,  and  to  permit  divine 
worship  to  be  celebrated  in  the  vulgar  tongue."  * 

How  far  Catherine  was  sincere  in  her  letter  to  Cardinal  Fer- 
rara is  hardly  a  question  for  those  who  hold  her  to  have  been 
always  more  influenced  by  policy  than  by  principle.  She  was 
sincere,  when  it  served  her  purpose  to  be  so.  Long  before 
the  Triumvirate — that  precursor  of  the  League — took  a  defi- 
nite form,  she  had  seen  the  necessity  of  uniting  with  the  Hu- 
guenots, in  order  to  counterbalance  the  Lorraine  party.  It  was 
this  that  made  her  write  to  the  pope ;  that  made  her  pretend 
to  entertain  Calvinistic  ideas ;  in  short,  that  made  her  deceive 
both  parties.  Without  entirely  adopting  the  views  of  Davila 

*"  Audio  Reginam  curasse  scribi  formam  emendationis  ecclesiarum." 
Languet  (llth  December,  1561),  Epist.  ii.  184.  Also  Chantonnay  (22d 
January,  1561):  "  Aussi  vcrrez-vous  un  disconrs  quo  Ton  seme  faussemcnt 
avoir  etc  envoye  par  la  Reine  nu  Tape."  He  hints  that  it  was  written 
by  Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  "  pour  (sous  pretexte  de  piete')  seiner  In 
fausse  doctrine."  Mem  de  Conde,  ii.  20. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  167 

(at  the  end  of  his  2d  book),  we  agree  in  his  conclusion,  that 
"  she  deceived  not  only  simple  people,  but  the  craftiest  and 
most  skillful  also." 

Whatever  may  have  been  Catherine's  motives,  the  pope 
would  not  yield  an  inch ;  he  wrote  to  encourage  the  Catholic 
party  to  resistance.  Meanwhile  Chancellor  de  1'llopital  was 
addressing  the  Calvinists  of  Geneva,  praising  in  the  king's 
name — in  reality  according  to  the  queen-mother's  instructions 
— the  purity  of  their  motives  and  the  rectitude  of  their  prin- 
ciples, and  exhorting  them  to  restrain  "  the  malice  of  certain 
preachers  and  dogmatizers  who  abuse  the  name  and  purity  of 
the  religion  which  they  profess,  by  sowing  in  the  minds  of 
the  king's  subjects  a  damnable  disobedience,  not  only  by  their 
libels  and  slanders,  but  by  their  sermons."  * 

It  was  under  such  circumstances  and  in  accordance  with 
the  promise  made  in  the  Edict  of  July,  that  the  celebrated 
colloquy  of  Poissy  was  held,  in  September,  1561.  On  both 
sides  great  preparations  had  been  made  for  the  grand  dis- 
cussion; and  in  order  to  counterbalance  the  eloquence  and 
skill  of  the  Catholic  party,  Calvin,  Beza,  Peter  Martyr,f  and 
other  ministers  were  invited,  under  safe  conduct,  from  Switz- 
erland. Calvin  did  not  answer  to  the  appeal,  but  the  Prot- 
estants had  no  cause  to  regret  his  absence,  for  Theodore  Beza 
was  altogether  a  fitter  person,  for  such  an  occasion.  Beza  was 
a  man  of  noble  birth  and  a  ripe  scholar ;  he  had  seen 
much  of  courts,  and  in  the  fashionable  society  of  Paris  had 
acquired  a  remarkable  grace  of  manner.  He  was  converted 
by  a  serious  illness :  "  As  soon  as  I  could  leave  my  bed,"  he 

*  Alberi :  Vita  di  Cuterina  de'  Medici  (Fircnze,  1838),  p.  291.  Sec  also 
letter  in  Bayle's  Dictionary,  art.  Marot,  dated  26th  August,  135!). 

t Calvin  writes  to  P.  Martyr:  "Audio  quidcm  Regis  mntrem  ita  esso  tni 
audiencli  cupidam."  17th  August,  1561.  Baum's  Theodor  Beza,  ii.  p.  40, 
App.  Peter  Martyr,  who  had  a  great  reputation  for  eloquence,  waited  upon 
Catherine  as  soon  as  he  reached  Paris.  After  a  long  and  friendly  inter- 
view she  dismissed  him  saying:  "Quod  deinceps  snepius  mecum  sed  secreto 
colloquivcllet."  P.  Martyr  Scnatui  Turicensi,  12th  September,  1561.  Ibid. 
p.  63. 


168  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

told  his  friend  and  tutor,  Melchior  Wolmar,  "I  broke  all 
ray  chains  and  went  into  voluntary  exile  with  my  wife  to  fol- 
low Christ."  At  Geneva,  he  was  nominated  professor  of  the- 
ology, and  ordained  to  the  ministry ;  and  became  so  strongly 
attached  to  Calvin  that  he  scarcely  ever  left  him.  His  ap- 
pearance was  a  recommendation,  being  a  handsome  man  of 
middle  stature  and  pleasing  address.  On  the  23d  August, 
the  day  after  his  arrival  at  St.  Germain's,  he  preached  before 
the  court  in  Conde's  apartment,  and  was  summoned  at  mid- 
night to  a  private  conference  in  the  drawing-room  of  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,*  where  he  was  graciously  received  by  the 
queen-mother,  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Bourbon,  and 
others.  Catherine  asked  him  many  questions  about  Calvin's 
health,  age,  and  occupations.  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  after 
some  well-turned  compliments,  declared  that  the  difference  in 
the  Christian  churches  on  transubstantiation  and  consubstan- 
tiation  were  not  in  his  opinion  a  sufficient  cause  of  schism. 
Beza  replied :  "  We  hold  the  bread  to  be  the  sacramental  body, 
and  we  define  sacramentaliter  by  maintaining,  that  though 
the  body  be  now  in  heaven  and  nowhere  else,  and  the  signs 
on  earth  with  us,  yet  it  is  as  truly  given  and  received  by  us, 
through  faith  in  eternal  life,  as  the  sign  is  given  naturally  by 
the  hands."  The  cardinal,  turning  to  the  queen-mother,  ob- 
served :  "  Such  is  my  belief,  madam,  and  I  am  satisfied." 
Beza  took  advantage  of  this  unexpected  concession  to  add, 
"And  these  are  the  Sacramentarians  who  have  been  so  long 
and  so  cruelly  persecuted  and  slandered." 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  September,  1561,  Beza 
left  St.  Germain's  for  Poissy  (a  small  town  about  four  leagues 
from  Paris),  escorted  by  a  brilliant  train  of  gentlemen,  among 
whom  must  have  been  many  of  his  old  friends. f  The  mem- 

*  Be/c  a  M.  d'Espeville,  25th  August,  1561  ;  Baum's  Theodor  Beza,  ii. 
p.  45,  Append.  There  is  a.  Latin  copy  of  this  letter  which  differs  in  several 
respects  from  the  French. 

t  Beza  tolls  us  that  his  escort  numbered  a  hundred  horsemen,  and  thnt 
the  Duke  of  Guise  received  him  "vultu  quam  maxime  potuit  nd  humani- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  169 

bers  of  the  council,  or  colloquy  as  it  was  termed,  in  order  not 
to  wound,  the  susceptibility  of  the  papal  court,  assembled  in 
the  refectory  of  the  great  convent.  The  king,  then  only 
eleven  years  of  age,  presided,  and  around  him  were  gathered 
the  princes  of  the  blood  royal,  with  the  officers  and  ladies  of 
the  court.  On  the  two  sides  of  the  hall  were  ranged,  according 
to  their  rank,  six  cardinals  with  archbishops  and  bishops  to 
the  number  of  forty  and  more,  besides  a  vast  array  of  doctors 
and  lawyers  who  accompanied  these  prelates,  all  in  scarlet  or 
purple  robes.  Along  the  lower  part  of  the  room  ran  a  bar, 
but  the  space  beyond  it  was  empty,  the  Protestants  not  being 
as  yet  'admitted  into  the  presence  of  the  king.  Charles  IX. 
opened  the  proceedings  by  reading  a  formal  speech,  in  which 
he  said  that  he  hoped  "  they  would  inquire  into  the  things 
necessary  to  be  reformed,  without  passion  or  prejudice,  but 
solely  for  God's  honor,  the  discharge  of  their  consciences,  and 
the  public  peace."  ..."  What  I  desire,"  he  continued, "  is 
that  you  will  not  separate  until  you  have  put  matters  into 
such  good  order  that  my  subjects  may  live  together  in  peace 
and  unity."*  He  was  followed  by  Chancellor  de  1'Hopital, 
who,  by  the  king's  express  order,  kept  his  seat  while  speaking. 
After  a  formal  explanatory  introduction  he  went  on,  "  I  cau- 
tion you  against  subtle  and  curious  questions  that  lead  to 
nothing.  We  do  not  require  many  books,  but  only  to  under- 
stand thoroughly  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  live  in  conformity 
with  it  as  well  as  we  can.  The  ministers  of  the  new  sect  have 
been  invited  hither  by  his  majesty  to  confer  with  you.  I 
pray  you  receive  them  as  a  father  receives  his  children,  and 
graciously  teach  and  instruct  them,  so  that  they  can  not  here- 
after say,  they  were  condemned  unheard." 

After  some  little  discussion  on  the  chancellor's  speech, 
which  had  offended  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon  by  its  liberality, 

tatem  composite."  Beza  Calvino,  12th  September,  1561,  Baum.  ii.  p.  60, 
App. 

*  Chantonnay's  dispatch  confirms  this.  He  says  that  the  king  and  the 
chancellor  "  ne  bougeraient  de  la,  quo  1'on  n'eut  tronve  ordre  pour  apaiser 
les  tumultes  de  ce  royaume."  Mem.  de  Conde,  ii.  1C. 


170  MASS  ACHE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  Huguenots  were  introduced  into  the  chamber.  They 
were  thirty-three  in  number,  eleven  ministers  and  twenty- 
two  lay  deputies  *  from  the  Calvinistic  churches.  Immediate- 
ly on  entering  the  hall  they  knelt  down  in  homage  to  the 
king,  and  taking  advantage  of  that  position,  Beza  implored 
the  Divine  blessing  upon  the  assembly.  As  they  stood  below 
the  bar  at  the  lower  end  of  the  room,  their  homely  dark  dress- 
es formed  a  striking  contrast  to  the  silks  and  furs,  and  gold 
and  bright  colors  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  Romish  Church, 
who  sat  on  the  two  sides  of  the  hall. 

Standing  a  little  in  front  of  his  colleagues,  Beza  proceeded 
to  explain  the  articles  of  the  faith  held  by  himself  and  his 
brethren.  His  speech,  which  presents  few  salient  points  for 
modern  readers,  was  a  remarkable  mixture  of  address,  wis- 
dom, and  Scripture.  He  had  gained  the  ear  of  an  unwilling 
audience,  and  was  listened  to  with  many  marks  of  approval, 
until  he  came  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist.  He  admitted 
(as  we  have  already  seen)  the  spiritual  presence  of  Christ, 
but  qualified  it  thus:  "We  say  that  his  body  is  as  remote 
from  the  bread  and  wine,  as  heaven  is  from  earth."  f  This 
so  startled  the  Romish  prelates,  "  that  they  began  to  murmur 
and  make  a  great  noise,"  J  calling  him  a  "  blasphemer."  Beza, 

*  Some  historians  reckon  twelve  ministers  and  a  score  of  lay  delegates  ; 
but  the  difference  is  unimportant.  Besides  Beza  and  Peter  Martyr  there 
were  present  Viret,  Marlorat  and  Jean  Malo,  ex-priests,  Reimond,  and  oth- 
ers. 

fBeza  afterward  found  it  necessary  to  explain  himself  more  fully  upon 
this  point  in  a  letter  to  the  queen-mother :  "  II  y  a  grande  difference  de  dire 
que  Jesus-Christ  est  present  en  la  Sainte  Gene,  en  tant  qu'il  nous  y  donne 
veritablement  son  corps  et  son  sang ;  et  de  dire  que  son  corps  et  son  sang 
sont  conjoints  avec  le  pain  et  le  vin.  J'ai  confesse  le  premier,  j'ai  nie'  le 
dernier. " 

J  "  Adeo  exasperati  atque  exacerbati  sunt,  ut  proruperint:  Blasphemavit, 
blasphemavit  Deum!"  Struckius  ad  Hubertum,  18th  September,  1561; 
IJaum  ii.  p.  66,  App.  Catherine,  writing  to  the  Bishop  of  Rcnnes,  em- 
bassador  to  the  emperor,  complains  of  Beza's  speech:  "Etant  enfin 
tombe  sur  le  fait  de  la  Cene  il  s'oublia  en  une  comparaison  si  absurde  et 
tant  offensive  des  oreilles  de  ^'assistance,  que  pen  s'en  fallutqueje  no  lui 
imposassc  silence."  (14th  September,  1561.) 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  171 

however,  took  no  notice  of  it,  but  continued  his  address,  wind- 
ing up  by  a  statement  of  their  doctrines  on  the  obedience 
due  to  the  king,  appealing  to  their  writings,  to  the  condition 
of  the  Protestant  states  in  Germany,  and  to  Scripture.  Such 
a  defense  would  appear  unnecessary  in  these  days ;  but  the 
orthodox  constantly  maintained  that  those  who  were  rebels 
against  the  Church  were  also  and  necessarily  rebels  against 
the  State.  After  a  week's  adjournment  the  prelates,  through 
their  mouth-piece,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  put  in  a  reply  to 
Beza's  statement,  but  would  allow  of  no  discussion  except 
upon  two  points :  the  authority  of  the  Church  in  matters  of 
faith 'and  the  Real  Presence.  Beza  offered  to  reply  imme- 
diately, but  the  court  rose,  and  when  the  turn  of  the  Hugue- 
not champion  came,  he  spoke  not  so  much  with  the  hope  of 
converting  his  antagonists  as  of  softening  them.*  After  his 
speech  the  public  proceedings  were  discontinued,  as  the  dis- 
cussion was  becoming  unpopular ;  but  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  queen-mother,  several  private  conferences  were  held,  at 
one  of  which  a  monk  named  Saintes  maintained  "  that  tra- 
dition was  based  on  a  firmer  and  surer  foundation  than  Script- 
ure ;"  and  at  another,  the  Jesuit  Lainez,  to  the  great  scandal 
of  all  present,  called  the  ministers  "  wolves,  foxes,  serpents, 
and  assassins,"  and  declared  that  "  women  and  soldiers  could 
be  no  judges  of  points  of  faith."  The  Reformed  delegates 
put  in  a  declaration  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  the  bishops 
rejected  as  heretical ;  and  presenting  a  counter  confession  of 
their  own,  called  upon  the  queen-mother  to  "  compel  the  Hu- 
guenots to  accept  it,  or  else  exterminate  them,  for  France  is  a 
country  that  has  never  put  up  with  heresy."  Catherine,  how- 
ever, did  not  yield,  but  sharply  charged  them  with  a  perverse 
desire  to  prolong  the  disturbances  of  the  kingdom.  The  Mod- 
erate party  still  clung  to  the  hope  of  reconciliation,  and  at  a 
later  meeting  the  chancellor  boldly  said :  "  The  State  and 
Church  are  two  things,  not  one.  A  man  may  be  a  good  sub- 

*"Ut  saltern  sequiores  nobis  liant."    Beza  Calvino,  27th   September, 
15G1. 


172  MASSACRE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ject,  though  a  bad  Christian.  You  may  excommunicate  a 
man,  but  he  is  still  a  citizen."  L'Hopital  was  too  far  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age.* 

Catherine  appears  to  have  acted  in  a  straightforward  man- 
ner during  the  colloquy ;  and,  when  the  members  had  separa- 
ted, she  did  not  relax  in  her  exertions  to  arrive  at  an  accept- 
able compromise.  She  suggested  that  the  French  bishops 
should  present  an  address  to  the  king,  praying  him  to  move 
the  pope  to  permit  the  marriage  of  priests  and  the  communion 
in  both  kinds.  They  did  so,  and  Pius  IV.  replied  that  he  had 
always  held  these  changes  to  be  right  and  fair,  for  which  he 
had  been  taunted  with  Lutheranism  at  the  last  conclave  ;  but 
he  could  do  nothing  without  the  cardinals,  who  would  not 
consent,  f  Writing  to  the  embassador  at  the  imperial  court 
(16th  February,  1562),  the  queen-regent  complains  of  the  time 
spent  in  "  idle  disputes ;"  and  in  a  letter  to  De  Lisle,  his  envoy 
at  Rome,  Charles  defends  what  had  been  done  at  Poissy,  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  the  existing 
edicts  ;  "  I  therefore  resolved,"  he  says, "  to  leave  my  kingdom 
no  longer  in  a  confusion,  which  became  greater  the  more  the 
remedy  was  deferred."  The  government,  enlightened  by  what 
had  taken  place  in -Germany  and  Switzerland,  began  to  look 
upon  Protestantism  as  a  barrier  against  anarchy.  Minds  that 
had  left  the  safe  anchorage  of  the  Church  of  Rome  were  drift- 
ing to  and  fro,  and  the  only  resting-place  against  the  torrent 
which  had  hurried  so  many  into  the  errors  of  anabaptism  was 
the  creed  of  Luther  and  of  Calvin.  Heresy  was  better  than 
a  revival  of  the  excesses  of  Munster.  J 

*His  orthodoxy  was  suspected.  "Homo  quidem  doctus,  sed  nullius  rc- 
ligionis,  tit  vere  dicam  aQtos"  Belcnrius :  Her.  Gall.  Comment,  p.  937.  II 
cancelliere  che  e  scoperto  nemico  delta  religione  cattolica. "  Tommaseo,  i. 
530. 

t  De  Lisle  to  the  king,  Gth  November,  1561 .  Mem  pour  k  Conci/e  de  Trente 
(4toed.),  p.  110. 

J  "  Una  gran  parte  del  popolo  crede  a  costoro  talmentc  che  col  mezzo  loro 
si  potranno  ridurrc  alia  via  buona,  come  che  altrimente  siano  per  diventare 
Anabatisti  o  peggio."  Santa  Croce  to  Cardinal  Borromeo. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  173 

During  the  colloquy  a  synod  was  held,  at  which  the  imprac- 
ticable temper  of  the  Huguenot  pastors  was  forcibly  shown  by 
a  memoir  they  drew  up,  demanding  "  the  exclusion  of  women 
from  the  government  of  the  state,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
legitimate  regency  ;"  thus  alienating  the  queen-mother,  who 
was  drawing  nearer  to  them  every  day.  They  also  called  for 
severe  measures  against "  infidels,  libertines,  and  atheists ;"  like 
some  modern  patriots,  who  love  liberty  so  much  that  they  would 
keep  it  all  for  themselves. 

Although  the  colloquy  came  to  nothing,  the  actual  result 
was  a  victory  to  the  Huguenots  by  clearing  their  character 
fronl  the  many  aspersions  cast  upon  it.  They  had  shown  that 
they  were  not  disloyal  subjects,  and  were  not  in  the  habit  of 
practicing  infamous  crimes ;  and  their  faith  spread  so  rapidly 
in  consequence,  that  the  demand  for  pastors  to  preside  over 
the  new  congregations  was  greater  than  the  Swiss  churches 
could  supply.  The  countenance  of  the  court  gave  them  bold- 
ness. During  the  sittings  at  Poissy  they  assembled  by  thou- 
sands outside  the  walls  of  Paris  to  listen  to  Beza,  whose  ene- 
mies have  computed  his  hearers  at  8000,  and  whose  friends  at 
50,000.*  The  smaller  number  appears  quite  large  enough  for 
any  voice  to  reach  in  the  open  air.  Necessity  very  early  com- 
pelled these  congregations  to  assume  a  sort  of  military  forma- 
tion. The  women  and  children  were  placed  in  the  centre  near- 
est the  preacher ;  behind  them  stood  the  men  on  foot,  next 
came  the  men  on  horseback,  and  outside  all  were  ranged  arm- 
ed men,  soldiers  or  arquebusiers,  to  protect  the  unarmed 
crowd.  As  Paris  was  particularly  lawless,  Conde  collected 
a  volunteer  guard  of  about  400  gentlemen,  to  whom  were  add- 
ed 300  old  soldiers  under  Andelot,  with  300  students  and  as 

*  Vie  de  Co/iyny,  p.  242 ;  La  None,  p.  350  (Engl.  transl.).  Pasquier  writes 
of  8000  and  9000  assembling  in  October,  and  of  an  "incredible  concourse." 
Lettres,  p.  233.  Languet  speaks  of  12,000  to  13,000  present  at  a  sermon 
in  Orleans  (Arcana  Secreta,  Ep.lv.);  in  Ep.  Ixii.  he  describes  a  meeting  at 
which  he  was  present:  "non  ducenti  aut  trecenti,  sed  duo,  tria,  et  inter- 
dnm  novem  aut  decem  millia  ....  hodie  vero  cxistimo  non  pauciorcs 
15,000  interfuisse."  p.  155. 


174  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

many  citizens.  Certainly  no  public  worship  was  safe  Avithout 
some  such  precautions,  but  the  wisdom  of  such  a  display  of 
force,  when  private  worship  was  possible,  is  open  to  doubt. 

From  a  list  presented  to  the  queen-mother  about  this  time 
by  Coligny,  it  would  seem  that  there  were  more  than  2000  Re- 
formed and  organized  churches  in  France.  Some  have  calcu- 
lated the  Huguenots  to  number  one-half  of  the  population, 
while  the  least  sanguine  reckoned  them  at  one-tenth.  The 
Chancellor  1'Hopital  estimated  that "  a  fourth  part  of  the  king- 
dom was  separated  from  the  communion  of  the  Church/' 
This  part,  he  adds, "  consists  of  gentlemen,  of  the  principal  cit- 
izens, and  of  such  members  of  the  poorer  sort  as  have  seen  the 
world  and  are  accustomed  to  bear  arms.  They  have  with 
them  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  men  of  letters,  and  a  great 
proportion  of  the  large  and  good  houses,  both  of  the  nobility 
and  third  estate,  being  on  their  side,  they  do  not  want  money 
to  carry  on  their  affairs."  *  To  the  same  effect  wrote  Castel- 
nau ;  and  Micheli,  the  Venetian  embassador,  one  of  the  shrewd- 
est of  observers,  declared  that  there  was  no  province  of  France 
untainted  by  Protestantism ;  and  that  Normandy  and  Brittany, 
Gascony  and  Languedoc,  Poitou  and  Touraine,  Provence  and 
Dauphiny — comprising  three-fourths  of  the  kingdom  - —  Avere 
full  of  it.  "  In  many  provinces,"  he  says, "  meetings  are  held, 
sermons  preached,  and  rules  of  life  adopted,  entirely  in  accord- 
ance with  the  example  of  Geneva,  and  Avithout  any  regard  to 
the  royal  prohibition.  Every  one  has  embraced  these  opin- 
ions, and,  what  is  most  remarkable,  even  the  religious  body, 
not  only  priests,  monks,  and  nuns — very  few  of  the  convents 
ha\'e  escaped  the  infection — but  even  the  bishops  and  many  of 
the  most  distinguished  prelates.  .  .  .  Your  highness  (the 

*  After  the  massacre  of  Vassy  (February,  15G2),  Conde'  offered  the  queen- 
mother  the  support  of  2150  Reformed  churches.  Montfau9on,  ^fonumens 
de  la  Monarchic,  fol.  1733,  v.  p.  109.  In  1598,  the  date  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
it  was  calculated  that  there  were  in  France  G94  public  chapels  and  257 
private,  over  which  2800  ministers  and  400  curates  presided:  There  were 
274,000  families,  making  about  1,250,000  souls,  and  of  those  families  24C8 
were  noble.  In  1561  there  may  have  been  250,000  more. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  175 

Doge)  may  be  assured  that,  excepting  the  common  people, 
who  still  zealously  frequent  the  churches,  all  have  fallen  away. 
The  nobles  most  especially,  the  men  under  forty  almost  with- 
out exception  ;  for  although  many  of  them  still  go  to  mass,  it 
is  only  from  regard  to  appearances  and  through  fear.  When 
they  are  sure  to  be  unobserved,  they  shun  both  mass  and 
church."  *  He  considered  it  indispensable  that  religious  free- 
dom— at  least  an  "  interim"  as  he  called  it — should  be  accord- 
ed to  the  French  Protestants,  if.  they  would  avoid  a  general 
Avar. 

Catherine  and  the  least  fanatical  portion  of  her  advisers 
saw  elearly  enough  that  a  compromise  was  necessary. 
Though  greatly  disappointed,  at  the  result  of  the  Poissy  confer- 
ence, she  recognized  the  necessity  of  moderation,  and  had 
called  upon  the  chiefs  of  the  Huguenots  to  assist  her  by  restor- 
ing the  churches  which  their  followers  had  seized  for  their 
religious  services.  She  then  gave  them  tacit  permission  to 
assemble  to  the  number  of  five  hundred  f  in  places  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  forbidding  them  at  the  same  time  to  wear 
arms,  or  to  indulge  in  irritating  language.  J  In  Paris,  the  num- 
ber who  could  meet  together  was  limited  to  two  hundred,  and 
that  in  private.§  But  the  question  of  toleration  or  persecu^ 
tion  was  too  important  to  be  settled  in  this  irregular  fashion, 
and  the  queen-regent  summoned  an  assembly  of  Notables, 
composed  of  the  ordinary  members  of  the  Privy  Council, 
with  two  delegates  from  each  parliament  in  the  kingdom,  to 
advise  with  her  on  what  had  become  a  matter  of  high  state 
policy. 

The  fanatical  Romish  party  were  by  no   means  pleased 

*  "Maxima  nobilium  parte  ad  eos  accedentc  ndeo  ut  coctus  Calvinista- 
rum  magna  frequentia  omnibus  prope  et  nobilissimis  quidem  regni  urbibus 
habebantur  palam."  Eytzinger  :  Leo  Belg.  p.  25  (anno  1560). 

tBeza  Calvino,  23d  October,  1561 ;  in  Baum  :  Leben  Besas,  p.  210. 

J  Castelnau,  p.  68. 

§  Baum  (30th  October,  1501),  p.  117.  Languet  writes  (26th  October, 
1561).  "Dummodononplurcsqnam  200  conveniant,  ct  sine  armis."  Arc. 
Seer.  ii.  p.  153. 


176  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

with  these  tolerant  symptoms  in  the  court  and  government ; 
and  finding  their  power  and  influence  diminishing  every  day, 
they  began  to  look  about  them  for  foreign  help.  In  their 
perplexity  they  naturally  turned  to  the  pope  and  the  King  of 
Spain  ;  and  there  is  a  story  of  a  petition,  emanating  from  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  certain  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
imploring  Philip  II.  to  aid  the  Church  of  France  against  the 
heretics,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  the  mightiest  and  most 
religious  of  princes.  The  petition  never  reached  its  destina- 
tion in  •consequence  of  its  bearer,  a  priest,  being  arrested  and 
compelled  to  give  it  up.  The  story  is  not  well  authenticated, 
but  there  is  evidence  enough  without  it  to  show  that  the 
Guises  and  a  part  of  the  French  clergy  Avere  engaged  in  a 
treasonable  correspondence.  Supported  by  this  correspond- 
ence, the  King  of  Spain  took  a  high  tone  in  his  letters  to  the 
queen-regent,  blaming  her  for  holding  the  colloquy  atPoissy, 
and  condemning  the  mere  idea  of  a  national  council.  He 
said  bluntly  that  all  heretics  ought  to  be  punished  without 
respect  of  persons,  and  added  that  if  she  failed  in  her  duty, 
he  was  determined  to  sacrifice  every  thing,  even  his  life,  to 
check  the  progress  of  the  pestilence,  which  was  equally 
•"threatening  to  France  and  to  Spain.  The  Spanish  embassa- 
dor  Chantonnay,  whom  Anquetil  describes  as  "  acting  the 
part  of  a  French  minister  of  state,"  scarcely  wrrote  a  letter 
to  his  royal  master  in  which  he  did  not  denounce  Catherine's 
favor  to  the  Protestants.  As  it  was  Philip's  interest  to  keep 
France  in  a  disturbed  state,  he  naturally  courted  the  Guise 
faction,  promising  them  both  men  and  money,  but  not  willing 
tt)  give  either  very  liberally.  Secret  as  were  their  manoauvres, 
they  did  not  escape  Catherine's  vigilance,  and  to  prevent 
any  violent  outbreak  she  disarmed  the  populace  of  Paris.* 

*  Admodum  severe  nunc  cxequuntur  edictum  de  usu  armorum  interdicto.1' 
Languet  (26th  October,  1561) :  Arc.  Seer.  ii.  p.  153.  The  Huguenots  were 
allowed  to  retain  their  arms:  "  Sotto  pretesto  che  non  nvrcbbe  a  segnir 
qualche  scdttione  ....  gli  Ugonotti  la  portassero  per  sicurta  sun."  Bar- 
baro :  Re/aziotte,  1 5G4. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  177 

Catherine  became  more  unpopular  every  day  among  the 
extreme  Romanists,  and  the  discontent  with  her  policy  became 
general :  many  of  the  nobility  remonstrated  with  her  for  her 
toleration,  and  the  monks  gladly  seized  the  opportunity  of 
arousing  the  fanaticism  of  the  populace.  One  of  these 
tonsured  preachers  of  sedition  actually  exhorted  the  citizens  of 
Paris  not  to  permit  the  watch,  who  were  paid  by  them,  to 
protect  the  heretics.  The  violence  of  the  Romish  clergy — 
especially  of  the  regulars — at  this  time,  can  hardly  be  exagger- 
ated. Simon  Vigor,*  whose  sermons  are  still  extant,  spoke 
thus  ferociously  from  his  pulpit :  "  Our  nobility  will  not 
strike.  .-  .  .  Is  it  not  very  cruel,  they  say,  to  draw  the  sword 
against  one's  uncle  or  father?  .  .  .  Come  now,  which  is 
nearest  and  dearest  to  you,  your  Catholic  and  Christian  broth- 
er or  your  carnal  Huguenot  brother  ?  The  spiritual  affinity  or 
relationship  is  much  higher  than  the  carnal,  and  therefore  I 
tell  you  that  since  you  will  not  strike  the  Huguenots,  you 
have  no  religion.  Accordingly  some  morning  God  will  exe- 
cute justice,  and  permit  this  bastard  nobility  to  be  trodden 
down  by  the  commonalty.  I  do  not  say  that  it  ought  to 
be  done,  but  that  God  will  permit  it  to  be  done."f  The 
garrulous  Claude  Ilaton  declares  4hat  Vigor  far  surpassed 
all  others  in  violence,  and  gives  an  outline  of  a  sermon  in 
which  lie  accused  the  king's  government  of  favoring  Hu- 
guenotry,  and  "destroying  the  Church  of  Christ."  Claude 
de  Sainctes,  who  was  in  the  household  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine,  declared  in  one  of  his  writings,  "that  if  the  fires 
which  had  been  lighted  up  in  France  for  the  destruction  of 
Calvinism  had  not  been  extinguished,  that  sect  would  not 
have  spread."J 

This   incendiary  language   produced   the   intended   effect, 

*  "Calvinistis  infestissimo  doctorc."  Sanctcsius:  Resp.  ad  Apoloy.  Bezcc 
(up.  Lannoium,  Hist.  (,'ym.  Navarrce,  p.  770). 

^Sermon  cath.  sur  les  JJimanches,  ii.  p.  25.  This  sermon,  though  actually 
of  a  later  dnte,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  style  of  the  day. 

t  Sanctcsins:  Ad  Edicta  vet.  princ.  de  Licentia  Sect.     15G1. 

M 


178  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

and  the  whole  kingdom  became  the  theatre  of  frightful  dis- 
orders. At  Cahors  the  tocsin  called  the  people  to  arms  (26th 
December,  1561).  The  Catholics  shut  up  the  Huguenots  in 
their  place  of  meeting  and  then  set  fire  to  it.  As  the  poor 
wretches  forced  their  way  through  the  flames,  they  were 
struck  down  by  the  pikes  and  swords  of  the  savage  crowd. 
Similar  disturbances  occurred  in  other  parts  of  France — at 
Pamiers,  Dijon,  Troyes,  Amiens,  Abbeville,  Tours,  Bordeaux, 
Montpellier,  Marseilles — the  Roman  Catholics  being  deter- 
mined to  prevent  all  assemblies  that  were  not  authorized  by 
edict.  Fran9ois  Channeil  and  Louis  de  Brezous,  accompanied 
by  600  horse  and  foot,  entered  Aurillac,  and  shutting  the  gates 
so  that  none  might  escape,  began  to  fire  upon  the  inhabitants, 
killing  one  of  their  own  number.  Many  Protestants  were 
thus  murdered.  The  soldiers  hanged  without  trial  a  book-sell- 
er and  a  hosier,  who  died  bravely  singing  the  2  Jth  Psalm  to  the 
last  moment : 

God  is  my  strong  salvation, 
What  foe  have  I  to  fear  ? 

In  darkness  and  temptation 
My  light,  my  help  is  near. 

It  was  impossible  that  such  "  lynch-law  "  violence  could  have 
any  permanent  repressive  effect  upon  men  who  felt  that 
"persecution  was  the  ladder  by  which  they  were  to  reach 
heaven."  *  The  Huguenot  was  not  likely  to  be  less  fervent 
than  the  Mahometan,  who  looks  upon  the  sword  of  his  enemv 
as  the  key  to  Paradise. 

There  were  perhaps  few  cities  where  the  magistrates  show- 
ed so  much  good  sense  as  at  Amiens  in  adopting  vigorous 
measures  to  preserve  peace  between  both  religious  parties. 
About  four  years  before  this  time  the  heretics  in  that  city  were 
estimated  at  500,  a  body  too  numerous  to  be  openly  -molested. 
The  monks,  therefore,  organized  processions  of  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  eight  and  twelve,  and  these  to  the  number 

*  Complainte  apolojetique  an  Rol.  p.  288. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  179 

of  200  paraded  the  streets  at  night  with  toy  crosses  and  ban- 
ners, halting  from  time  to  time  and  singing  the  Ave  Maria  at 
certain  doors,  according  as  their  leader,  a  man  bearing  a  sword, 
directed  them :  "  Sing,  children,  sing,  in  spite  of  the  Hugue- 
nots." The  Jacobin  preachers  used  their  pulpits  as  instruments 
of  sedition,  employing  language  that  could  hardly  fail  to  lead 
to  rioting.  Indeed  (to  anticipate  our  narrative),  on  the  7th  and 
8th  of  December,  1561,  the  tocsin  was  rung,  the  Catholics  fell 
upon  the  Huguenots  as  they  were  returning  from  divine  wor- 
ship, wounded  many,  and  maltreated  some  of  the  civic  officers 
and  others  who  had  come  to  help  the  weaker  party.  It  was 
in  consequence  of  these  and  similar  outbreaks  that  the  magis- 
trates, in  order  to  prevent  the  mere  possibility  of  rioting,  inter- 
fered so  far  with  individual  liberty  as  to  forbid  the  inhabitants 
to  assemble  in  the  streets  to  the  number  of  more  than  four,  or 
to  leave  their  houses  after  curfew,  to  carry  arms,  to  discuss  the 
sermons,  or  to  call  each  other  names,  such  as  "  Huguenots, 
Lutherans,  papists,  hypocrites,  and  caffards,"  under  pain  of 
death.  Still  the  magistrates  were  not  in  the  least  inclined  to 
tolerate  heterodoxy,  for  they  went  on  to  prohibit  assemblies 
either  in  the  city  or  without,  for  the  purpose  of  preaching, 
reading,  or  psalm-singing,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the 
Church.*  Although  the  Catholic  party  appears  to  have  be- 
come stronger  in  the  municipal  body,  still  their  measures  in- 
clined to  tolerance.  On  the  22d  May,  1562,  the  ministers  were 
ordered  to  leave  the  city  within  three  days,  and  school-masters 
were  forbidden  to  teach  the  new  doctrine  to  their  pupils.  Five 
days  later  we  find  the  Notables  assembled  to  devise  means  for 
compelling  some  eighteen  or  twenty  Huguenots  to  decorate 
their  houses  for  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  with  a 
view  "  to  avoid  any  demonstration  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  who  would  be  scandalized  by  any  want  of  reverence." 
The  men  were  summoned  before  them,  and  consented  under 
protest  to  adorn  their  windows.  "  They  pleaded  their  con- 

*  Thierry  :  Recueil  des  Mpnumens  incd.  de  tllist.  du  Tiers  Etat,  ii.'p.  683 
(4to.  Paris). 


180  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

science,"  says  the  register ;  "  and  when  they  were  asked  how 
that  could  be  wounded  by  such  an  act,  they  refused  to  give 
any  explanation."  *  The  men,  however,  did  not  keep  their  word, 
and  were  sent  to  prison.  A  proclamation  was  then  issued  or- 
dering all  persons  to  decorate  their  houses  under  pain  of  be- 
ing fined  twenty  livres  parisis ;  but  this  had  so  little  effect  that, 
the  very  next  Sunday,  two  hundred  and  sixty  persons  refused 
to  comply  with  the  order. 

Although  the  liberal-minded  Christians  of  our  days  may 
think  these  Amiens  Reformers  overscrupulous,  we  are  hardly 
in  position  to  blame  them.  They  looked  upon  the  procession 
of  the  Corpus  Christi  as  an  act  of  idolatrous  worship,  and  to 
hang  tapestry  on  the  walls  of  their  houses  was  indirectly  to 
countenance  the  idolatry.  It  is  not  very  long  ago  that  a  sim- 
ilar argument  was  urged  in  the  House  of  Commons  against 
the  turning-out  of  the  guard  at  Malta  when  the  host  was  car- 
ried past  the  guard-house. 

But  the  Huguenots  were  almost  as  turbulent  as  the  Roman- 
ists :  in  many  places  they  had  become  strong  enough  to  defy 
the  penal  laws  passed  against  them.  They  seized  upon  the 
churches,  drove  the  monks  from  their  convents,  made  bonfires 
of  the  crosses,  images,  and  relics,  and  demanded  an  enlarge- 
ment of  their  privileges.  During  the  procession  of  the  Fete 
Dieu  at  Lyons  (5th  June,  1561)  a  Huguenot  tried  to  snatch 
the  host  out  of  the  priest's  hand.  There  was  an  instant  riot : 
"  Down  with  the  heretics !  To  the  Rhone  with  them !"  was  the 
cry.  Many  were  drowned,  and  the  principal  of  the  college  of 
the  Trinity  was  dragged  a  corpse  through  the  streets.  In  all 
times  of  excitement  there  are  hot-headed  partisans  who  add 
to  the  confusion  and  thwart  the  exertions  of  those  who  are 
inclined  to  conciliatory  measures.  The  early  Reformed  Church 
was  not  without  them :  each  Protestant  country  had  its  icon- 
oclasts. These  indiscreet  Reformers  were  the  dread  of  the 
moderate  Beza:  "I  fear  our  friends  more  than  our  enemies," 

*  Thierry :   Tiers  Etat,  ii.  p.  712. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  181 

he  wrote.*  After  receiving  intelligence  of  an  outrage  at 
Montpellier  he  said  that,  if  he  were  judge,  he  would  punish 
those  "  madmen  "  with  extreme  severity.f  And  in  a  letter  to 
Calvin  he  says  (18th  January,  1562):  "You  will  scarcely  be- 
lieve how  intemperate  our  people  are,  as  if  they  wanted  to 
rival  our  enemies  in  impatience."  It  was  necessary  to  do 
something,  for  the  two  parties  were  coming  into  collision, 
and  blood  had  been  shed  not  only  in  Paris,  the  head-quarters 
of  orthodoxy,  but  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

One  day  the  populace  of  the  capital  having  insulted  the  Hu- 
guenots as  they  were  returning  from  divine  service,  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  Reform  resolved  to  be  present  at  the  next  meet- 
ing to  the  number  of  2000  horsemen,  with  the  intention,  if  the 
insult  should  be  repeated,  of  seizing  upon  the  adjoining 
churches  and  expelling  the  monks.  There  were  frequent  con- 
flicts in  the  city,  and  in  one  of  them,  known  as  the  riot  of  St. 
Medard,  both  parties  were  equally  violent  and  equally  guilty. 
It  appears  that,  on  St.  John's  Day,  the  priests  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Medard,  in  the  southern  suburb  beyond  the  Avails,  rang  the 
bells  in  their  belfry  to  drown  the  voice  of  the  Huguenot  preach- 
ing in  an  adjoining  house.  The  congregation  remonstrated,  and 
one  of  their  number  was  fired  on  and  killed.  The  Huguenots 
drew  their  swords  directly.  Andelot  entered  the  Church  on 
horseback,  and  in  the  struggle  that  followed  fifty  persons  were 
killed  and  wounded.  The  riot  was  renewed  the  next  day  by 
the  Catholics,  who  broke  into  the  house  where  the  Protest- 
ants used  to  worship,  and  burned  it  to  the  ground  after  smash- 
ing the  pulpit  and  benches  to  pieces.  The  matter  was  taken 
up  by  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  and  the  next  year  (1562),  at  the 
close  of  a  procession  to  expiate  the  profanation  of  the  church, 
a  great  number  of  citizens  suspected  of  heresy  were  hanged 
or  drowned  without  trial,  among  them  being  the  captain  of  the 

*  "Nostros  potius  quam  adversaries  metuo."  (4th  Nov.  1561).  Baum's 
Beza. 

.     t"Mc  non  minus  severe  in  rabiosos  istos  impetus  vindicaturum."    Ibid. 
ii.  Anhang,  129. 


182  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

watch*  and  some  archers  whose  only  crime  was  that  they  had 
not  stopped  the  riot.  They  were  pelted  by  the  children,  and 
"  if  they  had  possessed  a  hundred  lives  all  would  have  been 
taken,  the  people  were  so  exasperated."  The  corpses  of  the 
poor  wretches  were  seized  by  some  fanatics,  who  dragged 
them  through  the  streets  and  then  flung  them  into  the  river.f 
The  nuncio  Santa  Croce  wrote  to  the  court  of  Rome :  "  Some 
Huguenots  are  put  to  death  every  day.  Yesterday,  four  of 
those  who  committed  such  sacrilege  in  the  Church  of  St.  Me- 
dard  were  burned,  and  to-day  they  are  preparing  for  a  simi- 
lar spectacle."! 

Such  was  the  condition  of  France  when  the  assembly  of 
Notables  met  at  St.  Germains.  The  Chancellor  L'Hopital,  who 
had  been  growing  more  tolerant  every  day,  addressed  them 
in  a  speech  full  of  eloquence  and  sound  sense.  He  called  their 
attention  to  the  actual  state  of  the  Huguenots,  their  number, 
and  their  strength;  and  showed  the  injustice  and  impolicy  of 
those  who  wished  the  king  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  one 
part  of  his  subjects,  and  establish  peace  by  the  destruction  of 
the  other.  "  In  such  a  war,"  he  continued,  "  where  is.  the  king 
to  find  soldiers  ?  Among  his  subjects.  Against  whom  is  he 
to  lead  them  ?  Against  his  subjects.  A  triumph  or  a  defeat 
is  equally  the  destruction  of  his  subjects.  I  resign  controver- 
sies on  religion  to  the  theologians  ;  our  business  is  not  to  set- 
tle articles  of  faith,  but  to  regulate  the  state.  A  man  may  be  a 

*  This  was  Pierre  Craon,  called  Nez  d'Argent,  because  lie  had  lost  his 
nose  in  a  drunken  brawl,  and  it  was  replaced  by  one  of  silver.  He  was  at 
one  time  Professor  of  Humanity  at  Rheims,  but  resigned  his  chair  on  turn- 
ing Protestant,  and  removed  to  Paris.  The  children  used  to  sing  a  song 
about  him.  He  was  "fort  renomme'  en  science,"  and  worked  quite  a  revo- 
lution in  pronunciation  and  orthography,  sounding  c  like  c/i,  and  substi- 
tuting k  for  c  in  calendrier,  Catherine,  etc.  lie  also  introduced  parenthe- 
ses, commas,  accents,  diphthongs,  and  apostrophes.  One  account  says  lie 
was  hanged  in  December,  1561.  See  Jean  Lefevrc :  Hist,  des  Troubles, 
i.  j».  140. 

t  Arret  du  Parlement ;  Archives  curieuses,  torn.  iv.  ;  Ilistoire  veritable  (u 
Huguenot  account) :  ibid.  p.  49-75. 

J  "  Un  altro  simile  spettacolo."     Lett,  to  Card.  Borromeo. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  183 

good  subject  without  being  a  Catholic.  I  see  no  reason  why 
we  should  not  live  in  peace  with  those  who  do  not  observe  the 
same  religious  ceremonies  as  ourselves." 

After  a  long  and  warm  discussion  the  opinions  of  the  Mod- 
erate or  "  political "  party  triumphed,  and  sixteen  articles  were 
drawn  up,  which  became  the  basis  of  the  celebrated  Edict  of 
January,  1562.  It  suspended  ah1  preceding  edicts,  and  author- 
ized "  those  of  the  religion  "  to  assemble  unarmed  outside  the 
towns  to  preach,  pray,  and  perform  other  religious  exercises. 
By  this  means  it  was  hoped  to  avoid  collision  Avith  the  Cath- 
olics. The  edict  farther  stipulated  that  the  Protestants  should 
restore  the  churches  and  other  ecclesiastical  property  they  had 
seized ;  that  they  should  not  resist  the  collection  of  tithes,  or 
criticise  the  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  their  ser- 
mons, books,  or  conversation.  They  were  also  forbidden  to 
hold  synods  without  the  permission  of  the  crown,  or  to  travel 
from  town  to  town  to  preach,  but  were  to  confine  themselves 
to  one  church.  As  a  natural  corollary  Catholic  preachers  were 
likewise  enjoined  to  abstain  from  invectives,"  as  things  serv- 
ing rather  to  excite  the  people  to  sedition  than  persuade  them 
to  devotion."  The  various  Parliaments  at  first  refused  to  reg- 
ister the  edict,  without  which  ceremony  it  would  not  have  the 
force  of  law ;  but  their  opposition  was  overcome  in  every  in- 
stance except  that  of  Dijon,  where  it  was  "  virtuously  resist- 
ed" by  Gaspard  de  Saulx-Tavannes,  lieutenant-general  of  Bur- 
gundy, a  stanch  partisan  of  the  Guises,  and  one  of  the  most 
sanguinary  leaders  of  the  age.  The  Parliament  of  Paris  was 
characteristically  obstinate.  To  the  first  summons  they  replied, 
Nee  possumus  nee  debemus ;  and  when  they  yielded  at  last 
to  a  threat  of  physical  force,  they  would  only  register  the  edict 
under  protest, "  considering  the  urgent  necessity  of  a  tempo- 
rary measure."  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  accepted  it,  acknowl- 
edging to  Throckmorton  that  some  reformation  was  necessa- 
ry, but  he-  seemed  to  think  that  the  reform  should  come  from 
above,  and  not  from  "  men  of  their  own  authority."  * 
*  Forbes,  ii.  pp.  337-338. 


184:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  Huguenots  received  the  edict  with  gratitude,  if  not  with 
exultation.  Limited  as  were  the  privileges  it  granted,  still  it 
was  a  victory  over  their  opponents.  The  right  of  assembling 
was  conceded  to  them,  and  for  such  a  right  the  blood  of  their 
martyred  brethren  had  not  been  shed  in  vain.  The  preachers 
took  immediate  advantage  of  the  liberty  given  them  by  the 
edict,  and  preached  more  boldy  than  ever  in  fields  and  gardens 
or  any  open  space,  and,  if  the  weather  was  bad,  in  such  sheds 
and  barns  as  they  could  find.  "  The  people,"  says  Castelnau, 
"  curious  about  every  thing  new,  crowded  to  hear  them,  Cath- 
olics as  well  as  Protestants."  The  Romish  party,  who  un- 
doubtedly formed  the  great  majority  of  the  nation,  and  the 
most  ignorant  portion  of  it,  were  greatly  disgusted  with  this 
Edict  of  Pacification,  imperfect  as  it  was,  and  began  to  range 
themselves  in  opposition  to  the  crown.  Brulart  only  echoed 
the  public  opinion  when  lie  declared  the  Edict  of  January  to 
be  "  the  most  pernicious  possible  for  the  repose  and  welfare  of 
the  state,  and  the  support  of  the  kingdom,"  and  "  a  wholesale 
approval  of  that  wretched  Calvinistic  sect."  In  certain  prov- 
inces it  had  been  well  received  ;  but,  in  Burgundy,  Tavannes 
would  hear  of  no  toleration.  He  drove  a  large  number — re- 
port says  more  than  2000 — of  the  Reformed  out  of  Dijon,  and 
issued  an  order  to  the  neighboring  peasantry  "  to  massacre  all 
who  prayed  elsewhere  than  in  the  churches,  and  to  refuse  drink, 
food,  and  shelter  to  the  expelled  rebels."  At  Aix,  the  Protest- 
ants had  been  accustomed,  to  worship  under  a  fir-tree  outside 
the  walls.  Every  morning  for  weeks  men  and  women  were 
seen  hanging  from  its  branches ;  they  had  been  seized  in  the 
night,  and  executed  without  trial,  on  the  mere  denunciation  of 
an  enemy. 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  the  Duke  of  Guise  had  retired 
from  the  Privy  Council  in  December,  in  order  that  they  might 
take  no  part  in  deliberations  in  which  they  knew  the  majority 
would  be  against  them.  Such  a  silent  protest  added  largely 
to  their  popularity,  and  they  were  already  looked  upon  as  the 
heads  of  an  anti-Huguenot  league.  They  placed  orthodoxy 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  185 

before  loyalty,  and  were  ready  to  oppose  the  crown  whenever 
it  showed  any  toleration  to  heretics.  Nearly  twelve  months 
before  this  date  the  duke  had  told  the  queen-mother  in  answer 
to  her  question,  that  the  Catholics  would  not  obey  the  king  if 
he  changed  his  religion.  Still  there  are  good  reasons  to  believe 
that  all  would  have  gone  on  quietly  but  for  the  defection  of 
the  weak-minded  Anthony  of  Navarre,  whose  ruling  passion 
was  to  change  his  nominal  sovereignty  of  Navarre  for  a  real 
crown  and  real  subjects.  The  Guises  played  upon  this  weak- 
ness ;  Philip  II.  gave  him  a  choice  of  several  thrones ;  and 
the  pope's  legate  "  very  cleverly  "  offered  to  divorce  him  from 
his  excellent  wife  Joan  of  Albret,  so  that  he  might  marry  the 
widowed  Mary  Stuart.  But  there  was  one  condition :  he 
must  apostatize.  By  such  a  man  as  Anthony,  who  had  no 
principle,  that  little  obstacle  was  soon  surmounted;  and  in 
February,  1562,  he  sold  himself  to  the  enemy.  Davila's  lan- 
guage leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  motives  of  his  conversion.* 
Anthony's  secession  brought  a  great  increase  of  power  to  the 
side  of  the  Triumvirate  by  placing  at  their  disposal  the  troops 
that  obeyed  him  as  lieutenant-general  of  France.  The  inso- 
lence of  the  Guises  increased  with  success.  Their  pride  and 
contempt  for  all  who  did  not  belong  to  their  family  or  depend- 
ents almost  bordered  on  insanity.  They  could  brook  no  opposi- 
tion, and  that  the  Huguenots  should  think  for  themselves  was 
a  crime  to  be  expiated  only  by  death.  They  aimed  at  political 
supremacy,  and  Coligny,  now  the  acknowledged  Huguenot 
chief,  though  Conde  was  the  nominal  head,  stood  in  the  way  of 
their  ambition.  The  Triumvirate,  therefore,  decided  upon 
carrying  matters  to  extremity,  and  willingly  accepted  the  aid 
proffered  them  by  the  King  of  Spain.  Philip  II.,  the  self -con- 
stituted champion  of  Romanism,  the  "demon  du  midi,"  f  was 
trying  to  crush  the  Reform  in  Flanders  by  a  persecution  un- 
paralleled for  its  merciless  severity  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

*  Davila :  Jlist.  Cuerres  civiles  de  France,  1.  p.  78  (4to.  Paris,  1657). 
t  Psalm  xci.  (  Vulgate,  xc.) :   "  Non  timebis  ab  incursu  ct  dsemonio  mericl- 
iano." 


186  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

lie  saw  clearly  that  if  France  were  reformed,  or  even  if  the 
Reformers  were  tolerated,  success  would  be  impossible ;  and 
he  had  therefore  instructed  his  embassador,  Chantonnay,  as 
early  as  the  16th  October,  1561,  to  tell  the  regent  that  if  re- 
ligious matters  were  not  arranged — by  which  he  meant,  un- 
less the  late  proscriptions  were  renewed — he  would  send 
troops  to  the  aid  of  the  Catholics.  Catherine  was  not  the 
woman  to  submit  to  such  an  unsolicited  intervention,  even  at 
the  hands  of  her  royal  son-in-law,  and  she  answered  the  am- 
bassador haughtily,  that  "  she  did  not  know  what  his  Spanish 
Majesty  meant,  but  the  king  had  troops  enough  to  enforce 
obedience  from  his  sxibjects,  and  that  she  would  severely  pun- 
ish any  who  sought  for  foreign  aid  without  the  authority  of 
the  crown."  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that,  at  this  time, 
Catherine  was  sincere  in  her  determination  to  maintain  a  re- 
ligious toleration,  even  at  the  risk  of  hostilities  with  Spain ; 
and  she  appears  to  have  consulted  Coligny  as  to  the  number 
of  men  the  Reformed  churches  could  bring  into  the  field.* 
But  events  moved  so  swiftly  that  she  had  for  the  time  no 
alternative  but  to  go  with  the  stream. 

Anthony's  defection  had  destroyed  that  balance  of  parties 
which  the  queen-mother  had  so  diligently  labored  to  maintain. 
As  rash  and  violent  now  as  he  had  previously  been  dilatory 
and  weak,  he  had  hastened  to  Paris,  whence  he  wrote,  invit- 
ing Guise  to  join  him,  and  make  a  combined  attack  upon  the 
Protestants.  The  Duke  was  at  the  castle  of  Joinville  in  Cham- 
pagne, having  just  returned  from  Saverne  in  Alsace,  where 
the  Lorraine  princes  had  met  Duke  Christopher  of  Wurtem- 
berg.  Their  object  in  visiting  Germany  was  to  mislead  the 
Protestants  of  that  country,  and  alienate  them  entirely  from 
the  Calvinists  of  France,  thinking  that,  if  the  latter  were  de- 
prived of  all  external  support,  they  must  soon  be  crushed. f 
The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  twice  preached  sermons  so  Lutheran 

*  Beza  Calvino,  Gth  January,  1562.  Baum.  App.  The  Posidonius  of  the 
text  is  evidently  the  admiral. 

t  See  Vavillas,  i.  p.  121  ;  Gacon :   COM-  de  Catk.  d.  Mtd. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  187 

in  spirit,  that  his  open  adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Augs- 
burg was  eagerly  looked  for ;  *  and  the  language  of  the  Duke 
of  Guise  and  his  brother  Charles,  in  their  conferences  with 
Duke  Christopher  and  his  chancellor,  Brentz,  is  so  extraordi- 
nary, and,  as  regards  Duke  Francis,  so  unlike  what  we  read  of 
him  at  other  times,  as  almost  to  shake  our  faith  in  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  report  of  the  confereuce.f  Brentz  entreated 
the  cardinal  to  put  an  end  to  the  persecutions  in  France.  "  I 
will  do  so,"  he  replied,  adding  with  a  solemn  look,  "  that  he 
had  not  put  one  single  man  to  death  on  account  of  his  religion." 
Francis  corroborated  'his  brother's  words,  and  said:  ""We 
will  do  the  Reformed  no  injury."  We  shall  see  how  well  the 
two  Lorraine  princes  kept  their  promise. 

Vassy  is  a  small  fortified  town  of  Champagne  (Haute 
Marne),  on  the  river  Braise,  about  sixty  leagues  from  Paris. 
It  now  contains  a  population  of  little  more  than  3000,  and, 
three  centuries  ago,  probably  did  'not  contain  half  that  num- 
ber. The  Reformed  Church,  however,  must  have  been  strong 
in  that  quarter,  for  on  Christmas  Day,  1561,  as  many  as  3000 
persons  are  reported  to  have  assembled  for  divine  worship,  of 
whom  900  partook  of  the  Holy  Communion. \  Such  an  asser- 
tion of  liberty  of  thought  greatly  offended  Antoinette  de 
Bourbon,  the  dowager  duchess  of  Guise.  She  could  not  un- 
derstand how  her  vassals — or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  the 
vassals  of  Mary  Stuart,  her  granddaughter  —  should  dare 
choose  a  religion  for  themselves,  and  urged  her  son  Francis  to 
punish  their  presumption.  The  duke,  notwithstanding  what 
he  had  promised  at  Saverne,  needed  no  stimulants  to  the  dis- 
charge of  so  agreeable  a  duty.  His  way  to  Paris  lay  through 
Vassy,  and  as  he  came  near  the  town  on  Sunday  morning  (1st 

*  "A  rigidioribus  pontificiis  nccnsatnr  Lutheranismi  ....  jam  pulchre 
simulet  ....  videaturnon  multiim  a  nostris  dissent  ire."  Languet,  Epist. 
44,  lib.  2.  p.  112;  45,  p.  116;  63,  p.  159  (26th  November,  1561). 

t  The  original  report  of  the  Saverne  Conference  is  given  in  the  Bulletin  de 
rilist.  Prot.  Franyais,  iv.  p.  184. 

J  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  caution  the  reader  against  accepting  these 
numbers  literallv. 


188  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

March,  1562),  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  bell.  "What  noise 
is  that?"  he  asked.  "They  are  calling  the  Huguenots  to 
their  sermon,"  was  the  reply.  "  Huguenots  !  Huguenots  ! "  he 
swore ;  "  S'death  !  I  will  huguenotize  them  before  long."  He 
rode  into  the  town,  alighted  at  the  convent  where  he  dined,  and 
after  dinner — for  that  meal  was  then  eaten  in  the  forenoon — 
he  ordered  out  his  soldiers,  between  200  and  300  in  number, 
and  marched  them  to  the  barn  in  which  the  Huguenots,  trades- 
people for  the  most  part,  had  assembled  to  hear  a  new  preach- 
er who  had  just  been  sent  to  them  from  Geneva.  The  ducal 
retainers  began  the  strife  by  abusing  the  congregation  as 
"  heretics,  dogs,  and  rebels,"  murdering  three,  and  wounding 
several  who  attempted  to  close  the  door.  The  Huguenots  en- 
deavored to  defend  themselves  with  such  weapons  as  they 
could  snatch  up:  two,  who  were  probably  gentlemen,  drew 
their  swords,  others  flung  stones,  one  of  which  struck  the 
duke  in  the  cheek  as  he  stood  near  the  door.  In  a  whirlwind 
of  rage  he  gave  his  followers  orders  to  spare  nobody,  and 
these  orders  were  but  too  faithfully  carried  out.*  Such  as 
escaped  the  sword  were  killed  by  the  arquebuse  as  they  were 
making  their  way  through  the  windows  or  over  the  roof.  For 
one  hour  the  bloody  work  continued,  during  which  time  between 
fifty  and  sixty  of  the  Huguenots  were  murdered  on  the  spot, 
and  about  two  hundred  wounded,  some  of  them  mortally. 
"  There  were  left  forty-two  poor  widows  burdened  with  orphan 
children,"  wrote  Beza.  Many  who  succeeded  in  escaping  from 
the  barn,  were  pursued  and  killed  in  the  town,  and  probably 
none  would  have  been  spared  but  for  the  Duchess  of  Guise, 
who,  remembering  the  bloody  scenes  at  Amboise,  interceded 
for  the  women.  When  ah1  was  over  a  book  was  brought  the 
duke ;  he  looked  at  it  contemptuously,  he  had  never  seen  such 
a  volume  before.  "  Here,"  said  he,  handing  it  to  the  cardinal, 
"  here  is  one  of  the  Huguenot  books."  "  There  is  no  harm  in 
it,"  his  brother  answered  ;  "  it  is  the  Bible."  It  was  probably 

*  A  print  in  Montfat^on,  which  has  been  often  copieJ,  represents   the 
duke  himself  stabbing  a  woman. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  189 

the  one  used  in  public  worship.  "  S'blood !  how  is  that  ? 
This  book  has  only  been  printed  a  year,  and  they  say  the  Bi- 
ble is  more  than  fifteen  hundred  years  old."  "  My  brother  is 
mistaken,"  quietly  observed  the  cardinal,  as  he  turned  away  to 
hide  a  smile  of  contempt  at  the  duke's  ignorance.* 

The  news  of  the  "  blood-bath  of  Vassy  "  spread  like  wild-fire 
through  France,  everywhere  creating  the  deepest  agitation. 
Such  an  outrage  was  not  only  an  infringement  of  the  Edict  of 
January,  the  ink  of  which  was  scarcely  dry,  but  a  direct  de- 
fiance of  it ;  the  act  (as  it  were)  of  a  man  who,  in  pursuance 
of  his  own  ends,  had  resolved  to  trample  upon  all  law.f  If 
the  offense  were  not  punished,  no  one  would  be  safe  hereafter ; 
no  law  would  be  binding.  As  soon  as  the  tidings  of  the  mas- 
sacre reached  Paris,  Marshal  Montmorency,  the  governor,  who 
was  not  unfriendly  to  the  Huguenots,  advised  the  ministers  to 
adjourn  their  preachings  for  a  few  days,  lest  there  should  be 
a  riot ;  but  with  characteristic  obstinacy  they  refused,  as  it 
would  be  "  acknowledging  they  were  in  the  wrong."  They 
farther  asked  for  a  guard  to  protect  them  in  their  ministra- 
tions. Meanwhile  Beza  went  to  Monceaux,  and  appealed  per- 
sonally to  the  queen-regent.  The  apostate  Anthony  of  Na- 

*  There  are  many  contemporary  and  contradictory  accounts  of  the  Vassy 
massacre.  Description  du  Saccagement  exerce  cruellement  en  la.  Ville  de  Vassy. 
Caen,  1562  ;  Discours  au  Vrai  de  ce  qui  est  dernierement  advenu  a  Vrassi.  Paris, 
1562.  This  account  says  that  the  duke  heard  mass  at  Dampmartin,  and 
then  went  on  to  Vassy,  where  he  alighted  at  the  convent.  The  Discours 
entier  de  la  Persecution  ...  .  en  la  Vifk  de  Vassy,  le  1  mars  1562,  says 
that  the  duke  was  disturbed  at  mass  by  the  singing  of  the  Huguenots  [who 
were  outside  the  walls],  and  that  on  his  sending  to  desire  them  to  "  wait 
until  mass  was  over,  when  they  might  sing  till  they  burst,"  they  sang  all 
the  louder.  See  also  Alberi  :  Vita  di  Caterina  de,  Medici,  p.  92,  note.  Dr. 
Lingard  asserts  that  Brantome  was  present  at  the  massacre,  but  the  abbe 
says  plainly,  "Jen'y  e'tais  pas."  The  account  in  the  text  is  substantially 
Davila's;  the  duke's  own  statement  is  inCastelnau. 

t  The  duke  afterward  attempted  to  justify  himself  on  the  ground  that  the 
Protestants  had  begun  the  attack  ;  but  it  is  not  probable  that  a  body  of  un- 
armed pei-sons,  including  many  women  and  children,  would  have  provoked 
an  armed  body  of  men  commanded  by  one  of  the  first  soldiers  in  France. 
If  what  Davila  says  is  true,  the  duke  did  not  regret  this  opportunity  of  show- 
ing how  much  he  detested  the  January  edict  (liv.  iii.). 


190  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

varre  attempted  to  defend  the  Duke,  and,  throwing  the  blame 
on  the  Huguenots,  said  that  Beza  ought  to  be  hanged.*  Beza 
replied  that  the  Church  of  Christ  was  more  apt  to  receive  blows 
than  to  inflict  them,  adding,  in  words  that  have  since  passed 
into  a  proverb, "  Remember,  Sire,  it  is  an  anvil  on  which  many 
a  hammer  has  been  broken."  The  queen-mother  made  a  gra- 
cious answer,  and  promised  that  the  edict  should  be  enforced. 
She  bade  Navarre  watch  over  the  safety  of  the  king,  and  sum- 
moned Guise  to  court,  "  unattended  by  any  men-at-arms." 
Marshal  St.  Andre  was  ordered  to  repair  to  his  government 
at  Lyons,  but  refused  to  go. 

The  excitement  was  so  great  in  Paris  that  each  party  took 
up  arms,  declaring  they  did  so  in  self-defense ;  and  had  there 
been  a  reckless  leader  on  either  side,  the  streets  would  have 
run  with  blood  shed  hi  civil  strife.  The  hotels  of  Montmoren- 
cy  and  of  Guise  were  turned  into  fortresses,  and  strongly  gar- 
risoned by  their  respective  partisans.  The  constable,  as  rep- 
resentative of  the  oldest  barony  of  France,  was  urged  by 
his  wife  to  act  up  to  his  motto,  and  defend  the  faith ;  and 
he  would  possibly  have  been  induced  to  adopt  an  extreme 
course  but  for  his  son  Marshal  Montmorency,  who  advised 
moderation,  and  urged  that  it  would  be  wiser  to  conciliate  the 
queen-mother  than  attempt  to  coerce  her. 

The  slaughter  at  Vassy  was  as  much  exulted  over  by  the 
ignorant  and  fanatical  Catholic  populace  as  it  was  bewailed  by 
the  Calvinists.  Priests  in  the  pulpit  declared  Duke  Francis  to 
be  a  second  Moses,  a  Jehu,  who  "  by  shedding  the  blood  of  the 
wicked  had  consecrated  his  hands,  and  avenged  the  Lord's 
quarrel."  Ballads  were  made  upon  it,  and  the  orthodox  street- 
singers  extolled  the  Duke  of  Guise  in  very  laudatory  if  not 
very  polished  strains : 

Nons  avons  un  bon  seigneur 

En  cc  pays  de  France, 
Et  prince  de  grand  honneur 

*  Ste  Croix,  15th  March,  15G2  ;  Cimber,  vi.  51. 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  191 

Vaillant  par  excellence, 
Et  tres-humain, 
Doux  et  be'nin ; 

C'est  le  bon  due  de  Guise, 

Qui  a  Vassy, 

Par  sa  merci, 
A  defendu  1'e'glise. 

The  Calvinists  replied  in  coarse  and  more  vigorous  terms  : 

Un  morceau  de  pate 

II  fait  adorer, 
Le  rompt  de  sa  patte 

Pour  le  devorer, 
Le  gourmet  qu'il  est ! 
Hari,  hari  1'ane,  le  gourmet  qu'il  est ! 

Ilari  bouriquet. 

Le  dicu  qu'il  fait  faire 

La  bouche  le  prend, 
Le  coeur  le  digere, 

Au  ventre  le  rend 
Au  fond  du  retrait. 
Hari,  hari  1'anc,  au  fond  du  retrait. 

Hari  bouriquet. 

Meanwhile  the  duke,  escorted  by  a  body  of  1 200  gentlemen 
on  horseback,  continued  his  journey  to  Paris,  which  he  enter- 
ed in  triumph  by  the  St.  Denis  gate  —  a  gate  usually  re- 
served for  kings.*  The  multitude  cheered  him  loudly  as  he 
passed  down  that  long  narrow  street,  hailing  him  as  a  second 
Judas  Maccabasus  ;  the  trades  harangued  him,  and  called  upon 
him  to  extirpate  heresy.  On  the  same  day — or  on  the  next, 
as  others  write — Beza  preached  a  sermon  beyond  the  city 
walls,  which  the  Prince  of  Conde  attended  with  three  or  four 
hundred  men,  horse  and  foot,  armed  with  pistols  and  arque- 
busi's,  to  protect  the  preacher,  who  also  wore  a  breastplate. 
The  prince  had  gone  to  Paris  to  support  the  governor  and  ob- 
tain justice  for  the  massacre.  He  charged  the  duke  with  at- 
tempting to  seize  the  government,  and  advised  Catherine  to 

*  "  Magnifico  apparatu,"  snys  Ertzinper ;  "with  2000  gentlemen  and 
3000  horses,"  says  Brulart.  The  date  is  uncertain,  the  authorities  giv- 
ing 15th,  IGth,  and  20th  March. 


192  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

accept  the  aid  of  the  Protestants.  The  queen-mother  did  not 
know  how  to  act,  fearing  to  trust  herself  wholly  to  either  par- 
ty. At  last  she  prevailed  upon  Conde  and  Guise  to  leave  the 
capital  so  as  to  avoid  all  chances  of  collision.  The  duke  read- 
ily consented,  feeling  secure  of  the  citizens  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
Conde  clearly  foresaw  that  he  would  lose  the  city  if  he  quitted 
it ;  but  being  too  weak  to  hold  his  ground,  he  withdrew  to 
his  estate  at  La  Ferte-sous-Jouarre,  on  the  Marne,  to  the 
north-east  of  Paris. 

The  queen-mother  soon  found  out  that  she  had  made  a 
great  mistake  in  urging  Conde  to  leave  the  capital :  she  saw 
that  the  power  had  passed  out  of  her  hands,  and  that  the 
Guises  were  preparing  to  make  a  tyrannous  use  of  it.  She 
feared  the  Triumvirate,  for  herself  as  well  as  for  her  son ;  and 
there  is  a  story  that  she  overheard  St.  Andre  proposing  to 
throw  her  into  the  Seine.  To  preserve  her  freedom  of  action 
she  quitted  Monceaux  in  great  secresy,  and  removed  to  Melun, 
taking  Charles  IX.  with  her,*  having  apparently  made  up 
her  mind  to  act  with  decision.  She  appealed  to  Conde  to  pro- 
tect her  and  the  young  king  "  from  the  greatest  enemy  France 
can  have,  and  who  is  also  yours :"  and  the  prince  lost  no  time 
in  summoning  Coligny,  Andelot,  La  Rochefoucalt,  and  other 
chiefs  of  the  Huguenot  party  to  meet  him  at  Meaux,  to  take 
the  queen's  letters  into  consideration.  As  they  were  not 
strong  enough  to  force  their  way  back  to  Paris,  they  resolved 
to  get  possession  of  the  king's  person,  and  carry  him  off  to 
Orleans,  knowing  well  the  great  strength  their  cause  would  de- 
rive from  the  royal  presence  among  them.  But  the  Triumvi- 
rate were  equally  clear  on  this  point,  and  being  more  prompt 
became  masters  of  the  coveted  prize. 

Meanwhile  the  Parisians  had  begun  to  murmur  at  the  ab- 
sence of  their  sovereign,  and  to  quiet  their  remonstrances  the 
queen-mother  removed  at  Easter  to  Fontainebleau,  which  was 
farther  from  Conde's  head-quarters  at  Meaux.  The  Guises, 

*  Monconux  was  an  undefended  country-house,  1J-  leag.  S.W.  of  St.  Den- 
is, and  |  Icag.  E.  of  Neuilly. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  193 

suspecting  her  intentions,  determined  to  anticipate  them  by  a 
coup-de-maln.  The  King  of  Navarre  was  dispatched  with  a 
strong  body  of  Catholic  gentlemen,  including  the  constable, 
to  escort  the  young  king  to  Paris,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not 
safe  so  long  as  the  Huguenots  were  at  Meaux.  Anthony,  as 
first  prince  of  the  blood,  was  to  a  certain  extent  the  guardian 
of  his  infant  master,  and  no  doubt  he  would  have  asserted 
that  right  had  Catherine  resisted.  She  held  out  indeed  for  a 
time,  but  gave  way  at  last,  saying,  "  I  know  how  useless  it  is 
to  speak  to  you  of  your  duty ;  but  alone,  deserted,  and  betray- 
ed as  I  am,  I  shall  defend  the  liberty  of  my  son — your  king." 
Being  thus  "benetted  round  with  villains,"  she  yielded  only 
when  Navarre  had  actually  issued  orders  for  dismantling  the 
royal  apartments  ;  for  such  were  the  scanty  comforts  even  of 
royalty  in  those  days,  that  when  the  court  moved  from  place 
to  place,  carpets,  tapestry,  beds  and  furniture  were  moved 
also.  The  queen-regent  sent  off  a  hasty  express  to  Conde, 
in  the  hope  that  he  would  be  able  to  rescue  her  on  the  road ; 
but  the  hope  was  vain.  The  journey  to  Paris — or,  to  be  ver- 
bally accurate,  to  Melun  and  Vincennes — was  a  sad  one ;  Cath- 
erine hardly  spoke  a  word  to  the  escort  during  the  three  days 
it  occupied ;  and  the  boy-king,  who  imagined  they  were  tak- 
ing him  to  prison,  wept  several  times  with  ah1  the  violence  of 
childish  grief. 

Conde  came  at  last,  but  only  to  see  the  king  and  his  moth- 
er carried  off  in  triumph ;  his  force  was  not  strong  enough  to 
rescue  them,  even  had  the  attempt  been  safe.  Henceforth 
the  regent  was  in  the  hands  of  the  reactionists,  and  must  fol- 
low wherever  they  led.  With  contemptuous  politeness  they 
assured  her,  if  we  may  believe  Chantonnay,  "  that  they  had 
never  thought  of  depriving  her  of  the  government,  and  would 
not  attempt  it,  so  long  as  she  gave  her  hand  to  the  support  of 
true  religion  and  of  the  king's  authority."  *  Supporting  true 
religion  meant  depriving  the  Huguenots  of  their  privileges, 

*  Letter  of  12th  April,  1562;  Mem.  de  Conde,  ii.  53. 

N 


194  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  first  step  toward  which  was  to  interdict  the  Reformers 
of  Paris  from  meeting  to  worship  within  the  walls  of  the  cap- 
ital— a  deprivation  partly  justifiable  under  the  circumstances. 
The  mutual  jealousy  of  the  triumvirs  prevented  the  exercise 
of  any  harsh  measures  toward  Catherine :  each  intrigued 
against  the  other,  and  hoped  to  make  use  of  her  for  his  own 
private  ends.  Each  was  aware  that  if  she  were  removed,  his 
own  position  would  be  imperiled  by  the  rival  ambitions  of  his 
colleagues. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  195 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FIRST  RELIGIOUS  WAR. 

[1562-1503.] 

Beginning  of  Reaction — Causes  of  the  War — The  Huguenots  arm — Advice 
of  Coligny's  Wife — Covenant  of  Association — Massacre  at  Sens  and  Sis- 
teron — Discipline  of  the  Armies — Catherine  attempts  to  mediate — Con- 
ference at  Thorny — Negotiations  broken  off — Fearful  state  of  Paris — The 
Constable's  violence — Appeals  to  Foreign  Sympathy — Successes  of  the 
Royalists — Atrocities  at  Blois  and  Tours — Rouen  Besieged — The  Breach 
stormed — The  Hour  of  Vengeance — Pastor  Marlorat  hanged — Death  of 
Anthony  of  Xavarre — Disturbances  in  Normandy — Offer  of  Amnesty — 
Battle  of  Dreux — Conde  and  Montmorency  captured — St.  Andre  killed — 
Siege  of  Orleans — Duke  of  Guise  murdered — Poltrot  de  Mere — Pacifi- 
cation of  Amboise — Distress  caused  by  the  War — Death  of  Coligny's  Son 
— Letter  to  his  Wifa. 

ALL  great  efforts  are  followed  by  a  reaction.  We  have 
seen  how  Protestantism  had  been  spreading  over  France  dur- 
ing the  last  forty  years,  the  attempts  to  crush  it  serving  but 
to  give  it  greater  vitality.  We  are  now  approaching  a  period 
of  counter-  revolution ;  the  tide  of  reform  has  reached  its 
flood  and  will  soon  begin  to  ebb,  slowly,  irregularly,  but  cer- 
tainly, so  that  at  last  we  entirely  lose  sight  of  religion  in  the 
political  struggle  that  ensued. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  fix  upon  the  Huguenots  the 
terrible  responsibility  of  beginning  the  civil  strife.  It  is  easy 
to  prove  this,  or  any  other  historical  untruth,  by  a  skillful 
manipulation  of  documents ;  but  the  evidence  of  eye-witnesses 
of,  and  actors  in,  the  events  of  the  spring  of  1562,  points  to  the 
opposite  conclusions.  La  Noue,  who  was  present  at  Meaux, 
positively  affirms  that  there  was  no  plan  or  previous  arrange- 
ment. "  Most  of  the  nobility,"  he  says, "  hearing  of  the  slaugh- 
ter at  Vassy,  partly  of  a  voluntary  good-will,  and  partly  for 


196  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

fear,  determined  to  draw  toward  Paris,  imagining  that  their 
protectors  might  stand  in  some  need  of  them."  *  And  that 
there  was  good  ground  for  this  fear  appears  certain  from  a 
contemporary  letter,  in  which  the  writer  says :  "  Every 
thing  is  in  such  confusion  at  court  that,  if  God  does  not  lend 
a  helping  hand,  I  fear  that  in  less  than  ten  days  you  will 
have  news  of  the  prettiest  (plus  beau)  massacre  that  ever 
was."t 

Is  it  wonderful  if  in  such  a  state  of  things  the  Protestant 
gentry  thought  it  necessary  to  take  counsel  together?  Of 
their  deliberations  we  know  nothing,  but  the  result  was  a 
resolution  to  take  up  arms.  Coligny  alone  appears  to  have 
held  back,  and  without  his  countenance  and  support  the  chances 
of  success  were  very  small.  There  is  a  story  told  of  him, 
which  we  could  hope  to  be  true,  though  it  is  at  variance  with 
certain  known  facts.  He  had  long  kept  aloof,  notwithstand- 
ing the  entreaties  of  his  brothers  Andelot  and  the  Cardinal 
of  Chatillon  that  he  would  take  the  field ;  and  when  his 
wife  added  her  entreaties  to  theirs,  he  drew  a  terrible  picture 
of  civil  war  and  the  possible  fate  of  herself  and  their  children, 
and  begged  her  take  three  weeks  to  weigh  the  matter  delib- 
erately in  her  mind.  "  The  three  weeks  are  already  past," 
replied  the  heroic  dame;  "you  will  never  be  conquered  by 
the  virtue  of  your  enemies;  employ  your  own,  and  do  not 
take  upon  your  head  the  murders  of  three  weeks."  He  hesi- 
tated no  longer,  and  the  next  day  set  off  to  join  Condc  at 
Meaux,  where  the  Huguenot  gentlemen  held  rendezvous. 
That  prince  had  already  committed  himself  too  far  not  to  see 
that  none  but  the  boldest  measures  could  save  him :  "  It  is 
all  over,"  he  said ;  "  we  have  plunged  in  so  deep  that  AVC 
must  either  drink  or  drown." 

The  confederate,  knowing  how  greatly  success  depended 

*  La  Noue  :  PoKticke  Discourses,  Lond.  1587.  This  translation  preserves 
much  of  the  spirit  of  the  original  French. 

t  Luillier  to  Lymoges,  20th  April,  15G2.  Paris :  Cabinet  Hiftorique,  ii. 
p.  291. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  197 

upon  prompt  action,  spent  but  few  moments  in  deliberation. 
Their  first  step  must  be  to  secure  some  strong  town,  in  which 
they  could  make  a  safe  stand  until  reinforcements  arrived. 
For  obvious  strategical  and  political  reasons  they  selected 
Orleans,  and  thitherward,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand, 
they  turned  their  horses'  heads.  As  the  delay  of  even  a  few 
minutes  might  be  dangerous,  they  rode  on  like  a  fierce  whirl- 
wind, not  stopping  to  pick  up  any  one  who  fell  on  the  road. 
Once  in  Orleans,  which  they  entered  on  the  2 d  April,  1562, 
they  sent  secret  orders  to  their  co-religionists  all  over  France, 
and  their  first  measures  were  crowned  with  success.  Almost 
on  the  same  day  the  Huguenots  made  themselves  masters 
of  Havre,  Rouen,  Caen,  and  Dieppe  in  Normandy;  Blois, 
Tours,  and  Angers  on  the  Loire ;  Poitiers  and  Rochelle  in 
Poitou ;  Chalons  and  Troyes  in  Champagne ;  Macon  in  Bur- 
gundy ;  Gap  and  Grenoble  in  Dauphiny ;  and  Nismes, 
Montpellier,  Beziers,  and  Montauban  in  Languedoc;  as  well 
as  a  large  number  of  castles  in  the  north,  west,  and  south, 
with  the  Cevennes  district  between  Lyons  and  Toulouse. 

From  all  these  quarters  the  best  gentlemen  in  France 
rallied  round  Conde  in  defense  of  the  rights  of -their  body 
and  the  princes  of  the  blood-royal  against  the  usurpation  and 
violence,  of  the  Guises,  who  were  foreigners.  Many  of  them 
were  related  to  Conde :  the  three  Chatillons  were  the  uncles 
of  his  wife;  Prince  Porcien  the  husband  of  his  neice;  La 
Rochefoucault  had  married  his  sister-in-law.  Viscount  Rohan 
represented  the  nobles  of  Dauphiny;  Andelot  the  Pays  de 
France ;  the  Count  of  Grammont  led  the  Gascons ;  Montgom- 
ery the  Normans  ;  and  Genlis  the  sober  and  industrious  Pic- 
ards.  Their  first  step  was  to  sign  a  Covenant  of  Association, 
binding  them  to  spend  their  goods  and  their  lives  in  restoring 
the  king  to  liberty,  and  procuring  freedom  of  worship  to  all 
Frenchmen.  They  necessarily  made  Conde  their  leader,  and 
then  sent  off  letters  (7th  May)  to  all  the  churches,  desiring 
them  "  in  God's  name "  to  furnish  both  men  and  money. 
"  We  have  taken  up  arms,"  said  the  confederates, "  that  we 


198  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

may  deliver  the  King  and  Queen  from  the  hands  of  their  ene- 
mies, and  secure  the  full  execution  of  the  Edict  of  January." 
Conde  also  thought  it  his  duty  to  dispatch  a  messenger  to  the 
queen-mother,  with  an  explanation  of  the  motives  which  had 
driven  him  to  such  extreme  measures.  Catherine  would  not 
commit  herself  to  a  written  answer,  but  desired  the  Baron  de 
la  Garde  to  tell  the  Prince,  "  that  she  would  never  forget 
what  he  might  do  for  the  king  her  son." 

The  Catholics,  if  less  prompt,  were  not  less  vigorous  in  their 
proceedings.  In  1561  the  citizens  of  Paris  had  been  disarmed 
as  a  measure  of  precaution ;  now  every  member  of  the  "  an- 
cient Catholic  religion,"  capable  of  bearing  arms,  was  ordered 
to  procure  them  and  attend  drill.*  By  this  means  fifteen  corps 
of  infantry,  amounting  to  the  almost  incredible  number  f  of 
30,000  men  (others  say  24,000),  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Triumvirate  for  the  protection  of  the  capital.  By  another 
order,  issued  by  Marshal  Brissac,  who  had  succeeded  Mont- 
morency  as  governor,  all  persons,  "notoriously  famed  as  being 
of  the  new  religion,"  were  ordered  to  leave  the  city  within 
twenty-four  hours,  or  they  would  be  hanged ;  as  for  such  as 
were  "  suspected  "  only,  they  were  required  to  get  a  certificate 
of  confession.J  The  populace  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  thus  placed  within  their  reach,  by  informing 
against  those  whom,  from  any  personal  or  other  motive,  they 

*  In  spite  of  the  disarming  edicts,  the  arms  had  not  been  given  up,  tlic 
Huguenots  retaining  theirs  in  some  districts.  Accordingly,  on  28th  April, 
1562,  the  king  wrote  to  De  la  Mothe  Gondrin,  ordering  the  arms  to  lie 
restored  to  the  Catholics,  "pour  lettr  surete  et  conservation,  leur  defendant 
ntanmoins  tres-expressement,  de  par  rnoy,  de  n'en  mat  user,  et  de  n'entrc- 
prendre  aucune  chose  de  mauvais,  sous  peine  d'etre  punis  et  chdtie's  exem- 
plairement."  Ordinances  and  letters  of  Charles  IX.  in  Archives  of  Lyons. 

t  This  statement,  if  correct,  must  be  the  number  on  paper  merely,  and 
even  then  it  would  be  one  in  four  of  the  whole  population  of  Paris. 

J  From  the  Enqueste  sur  la  Profession  religieuse  de  noble  homtne  Jehan  de 
Montruillon,  1570,  it  would  appear,  that  the  certificate  required  to  be  signed 
by  the  parish  priest  and  his  curate,  the  church-wardens  and  sexton,  the  dis- 
trict judges  and  others.  It  states  that  the  bearer  attends  mass  and  confes- 
sion, that  he  is  married,  and  that  his  children  were  christened  in  the  parish 
church. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  199 

wanted  to  turn  out  of  their  houses ;  and  if  the  Huguenots  did 
not  go,  they  were  plundered  and  ill-used. 

And  now  began  a  war  of  manifestoes  and  remonstrances. 
The  walls  of  the  capital  were  covered  with  placards  in  which 
the  Huguenots  declared  that  they  had  taken  up  arms  in  self- 
defense  and  not  for  plunder,  and  the  Catholics  replied  in 
terms  that  exhausted  the  vocabulary  of  abuse.  The  Lorraine 
party,  or  the  Triumvirate,  was  the  Ultramontane  or  foreign 
party ;  the  Protestant  party  was  especially  that  of  national  in- 
dependence. The  Huguenots,  like  the  English  Parliamentari- 
ans of  1642,  represented  the  middle  classes,  and  were  (perhaps 
unconsciously)  democratic  in  their  tendencies ;  the  Royalists 
(as  we  may  call  them,  since  they  held  the  king's  person,  al- 
though they  were  not  more  loyal  than  their  opponents)  were 
supported  by  the  clergy,  the  ignorant  rural  population,  and 
the  poverty  of  the  towns.  Both  parties  sought  political 
power  to  carry  out  their  views. 

It  may  be  said  that,  if  ever  there  was  a  time  when  Chris- 
tians were  justified  in  resorting  to  the  sword,  it  was  the  pres- 
ent. The  laws  in  favor  of  the  Huguenots  were  constantly  and 
systematically  broken.  The  massacre  at  Vassy  was  only  the 
first  of  a  series  of  outrages  equally  barbarous.  At  Sens  in 
Burgundy,  a  Huguenot  having  insulted  a  Catholic  procession, 
the  tocsin  was  rung,  and  there  was  a  general  onslaught  upon 
the  Reformed,  without  regard  either  to  age  or  sex.  The  bod- 
ies of  the  victims,  stripped  and  fastened  to  planks,  were  thrown 
into  the  river  and  floated  down  to  Paris,  twenty  leagues  dis- 
tant. One  of  them,  that  of  a  Gascon  officer,  was  dragged 
through  the  streets  by  boys  leaping  and  shouting :  "  Take 
care  of  your  pigs,  for  we  have  got  the  pigkeeper."  The 
fanatic  populace  destroyed  every  thing,  even  rooting  up  the 
vines  in  the  Calvinist  vineyards.  For  three  days  the  hideous 
carnival  of  murder  went  on,  and  ceased  only  from  want  of  vic- 
tims.* 

*  "Ut  occidendorum  penuria  interficiendi  finem  fecerit."      Eytzinger: 
Leo  Bely.  p.  31. 


200  '  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  massacre  of  Sens  took  place  in  April,  while  the  Baron 
de  la  Garde  was  on  his  mission  of  peace  in  the  Protestant 
camp.  It  was  said  to  have  been  perpetrated  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  who  was  archbishop  of  that 
city,  and  who  took  no  steps  to  prevent  the  murders.  As  soon  as 
the  news  reached  the  ears  of  Conde,  he  broke  off  all  negotia- 
tions, and  declared  that  he  would  not  lay  down  his  arms  "  until 
he  had  driven  his  most  cruel  enemies  (the  Guises)  out  of 
France."  The  nuncio  Santa  Croce  seems  to  allude  to  two 
massacres :  "  Since  the  massacre  at  Sens,  of  which  I  wrote  in 
my  last,  another  great  slaughter  of  eighty  Huguenots  has  hap- 
pened, and  some  thirty  of  their  houses  have  been  burned  in 
that  city."  Perrenot  de  Chantonnay,  the  Spanish  embassador, 
writes  exultingly :  "  Already  in  many  parts  of  this  king- 
dom, as  at  Sens,  Toulouse,  Castel-Navarre,  and  Villefranche, 
the  Catholics  have  risen  against  the  Huguenots,  who  have 
had  the  worst  of  it;  and  in  some  places  the  preachers  were 
burned  in  the  market-place." 

All  over  France,  from  the  Channel  to  the  Mediterranean, 
similar  ferocious  outbreaks  occurred.  At  Sisteron,  beneath 
the  shadow  of  the  Lower  Alps,  three  hundred  women  and  chil- 
dren, refugees  from  all  parts  of  Provence,  were  pitilessly  mur- 
dered, the  men  having  made  their  escape.  One  poor  woman 
with  a  baby  in  her  arms  was  taken  outside  the  town  and  put 
to  death,  and  her  body  buried  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  house 
where  she  used  to  worship. 

All  comment  on  these  things  *  would  be  superfluous.  Is  it 
wonderful  that  in  such  a  state  of  lawlessness  the  Reformed 
nobles  and  gentlemen  armed  in  self-defense  ?  With  indignant 
eloquence,  Agrippa  d'Aubigne  vindicates  the  rebellion  in  which 
the  Huguenots  sought  to  protect  themselves :  "  So  long  as  the 
adherents  of  the  new  religion  were  destroyed  merely  under 
the  form  of  law,  they  submitted  themselves  to  the  slaughter, 

*  It  may  be  objected  that,  as  some  of  the  cases  cited  in  the  text  occurred 
after  Conde"s  revolt,  they  can  not  be  used  to  justify  it.  They  are  introduced 
to  show  the  state  of  public  feeling  at  the  time. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  201 

and  never  raised  a  hand  in  their  own  defense  against  those 
injuries,  cruel  and  iniquitous  as  they  were.  But  when  the 
public  authorities  and  the  magistracy,  divesting  themselves 
of  the  venerable  aspect  of  justice,  put  daggers  into  the  hands 
of  the  people,  abandoning  every  man  to  the  violence  of  his 
neighbors ;  and  when  public  massacres  were  perpetrated  to 
the  sound  of  the  drum  and  of  the  trumpet,  who  could  forbid 
the  unhappy  sufferers  to  oppose  hand  to  hand,  and  sword 
to  sword,  and  to  catch  the  contagion  of  a  righteous  fury 
from  a  fury  unrestrained  by  any  sense  of  justice  ?" 
•  This  appeal  to  arms  was  quite  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
the  founder  of  the  French  Church.  In  1556,  when  Calvin  had 
reason  to  fear  that  the  Reformed  would  resist  if  they  were 
attacked,  he  wrote  to  the  church  of  Angers :  "  I  pray  you  put 
aside  such  counsels ;  they  will  never  be  blessed  by  God,  or 
come  to  a  good  issue."  And  to  the  church  at  Paris  he  wrote 
in  the  same  strain :  "  Show  yourselves  like  lambs  against  the 
rage  of  the  wolves,  for  you  have  the  promise  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,  who  will  never  fail  you.  It  is  better  that  we  be  all 
destroyed  than  for  the  Gospel  to  be  reproached  with  leading 
the  people  to  sedition  and  tumult.  God  will  always  fructify 
the  ashes  of  his  servants,  whilst  violence  and  excess  will  bring 
nothing  but  barrenness."  * 

It  is  with  great  hesitation  that  I  venture  to  differ  from  so 
high  an  authority  as  Calvin ;  but — to  oppose  authority  to  au- 
thority— St.  Augustine  acknowledges  that  overwhelming  ne- 
cessity may  justify  Christians  in  drawing  the  sword.f  And 
Knox  went  still  farther,  maintaining  in  his  "Appellation" 
that  it  was  not  only  the  duty  of  a  nation  to  resist  a  persecut- 
ing sovereign,  but  (as  in  the  case  of  the  Marian  persecutions) 
also  to  depose  the  queen,  and  even  "  punish  her  to  death,  with 
all  the  sort  of  her  idolatrous  priests."  But  the  propriety  of 
arming  in  defense  of  religion  can  hardly  in  these  days  be 

*  See  also  letter  to  church  of  Blois,  18th  September,  1557. 
t  "  Nobis  bellum  non  essc  bonae  voluntatis,  ut  pax,  scd  necessitatis  .... 
necessitas  quae  nos  premit  nullam  patitur  legem  contra  naturam." 


202  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

maintained  on  such  grounds.  The  Huguenots  of  1562  felt 
that  their  only  choice  lay  between  extermination,  hypocritical 
conformity,  or  rebellion.  They  were  contending  against  intol- 
erable oppression ;  the  laws  were  no  protection  to  them ;  and 
in  such  circumstances  they  believed  resistance  to  be  justifia- 
ble. "Why  should  they  apostatize,  or  be  burned,  while  they 
had  strength  to  wield  the  sword,  especially  as  the  letter  of  the 
law  was  in  their  favor  ?  Such  a  line  of  argument  may  fall 
below  the  great  ideal  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity,  in  which 
the  highest  victory  is  gained  through  suffering :  "  Unto  him 
that  smiteth  thee  on  the  one  cheek,  offer  also  the  other." 
But  how  can  we  apply  such  a  rule  to  a  whole  nation,  the  mass 
of  which  consists  of  ordinary  individuals  ?  Upon  men  of  low 
moral  constitutions  persecution  has  a  searing,  hardening,  re- 
vengeful effect.  It  would  not  raise  the  victims  into  martyrs, 
or  lift  them  up  to  the  divine  spirit  of  the  Crucifixion.  To  for- 
bid the  use  of  the  sword  for  any  and  every  cause,  as  one  very 
narrow  sect  does,  is  intelligible ;  but  to  say  that  we  may  draw 
it.  in  defense  of  our  homes  and  our  goods,  but  not  in  defense 
of  our  faith,  is  to  count  the  latter  of  less  value  than  the  for- 
mer. Those  who  sympathize  with  Calvin  argue  that  the  mid- 
night assassin,  or  the  violator  of  woman's  purity,  may  be  law- 
fully resisted,  even  unto  death ;  not  so  another  who  would 
force  a  man  to  abjure  his  faith.  This  is  putting  the  purse 
above  the  conscience.  Calvin  had  never  been  tested  in  the 
fire.  Brentius  and  Languet,  who  had  both  been  face  to  face 
with  the  enemy,  thought  differently.*  The  latter,  speaking  of 
a  meeting  at  La  Cerisaye,  which  had  been  attacked,  says : 
"  There  were  some  who  would  have  rather  been  beaten  than 
draw  their  swords,  but  I  was  not  of  their  opinion."  f  It  may 

*  The  reformer  Brentius  was  at  one  time  a  decided  advocate  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  non-resistance  ;  but  as  he  grew  older,  and  witnessed  the  terrible 
persecutions  of  the  emperor,  he  altered  his  mind,  and  contended  that  the 
subordinate  powers,  as  being  also  of  God,  were  called  upon  to  resist  the  higher 
powers,  if  they  should  turn  their  swords  against  the  people  of  God. 

t  "Fiierunt  aliqui,  qui  maluerint,  plagas  accipere  qnam  stringere  gladios, 
ego  non  fni  in  ea  sententia."  Eplst.  ii.  149  (12th  October!  l,r)G2). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  203 

indeed  be  urged  that  the  differences  between  the  Romanists 
and  Huguenots  were  not  important  enough  to  justify  armed 
resistance ;  but  the  alternative  appeal  is  to  the  conscience ; 
and  if  men  and  women,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  through 
a  long  series  of  years,  held  their  faith  as  deare^than  their  life, 
we  must  infer  that  the  differences  to  them  were  vital. 

There  is,  however,  a  potent  element  of  evil  in  armed  resist- 
ance. When  Christians  unite  into  armies,  they  are  too  apt  to 
become  a  political  party,  and  losing  sight  of  the  motives  and 
principles  which  first  banded  them  together,  to  contend  for 
mere  temporal  objects  like  any  other  body  of  men.  It  was 
perhaps  a  misfortune  that  the  Reformed  were  so  numerous  in 
France ;  had  they  been  a  small,  insignificant  body,  they  would 
hardly  have  created  such  malignant  animosity,  and  might 
have  escaped  being  mixed  up  in  the  civil  war,  which  was  soon- 
er or  later  inevitable  between  the  political  parties. 

Both  armies  now  began  to  prepare  for  the  coming  struggle. 
Never  before  in  all  history,  and  only  once  since,  has  any  thing 
been  seen  like  the  discipline  at  first  maintained  among  the 
Huguenots.  A  form  of  prayer,  drawn  up  by  Beza,  was  repeat- 
ed every  night  and  morning ;  and  the  troops  were  "  to  be- 
ware of  oppressing  the  poor  commons."  As  they  marched 
over  the  open  country,  "  they  neither  spoiled  nor  misused 
their  hosts,  but  were  content  with  a  little  ....  Most  of  them 
paid  honestly  for  all  things."  La  Noue  aptly  describes  it  as  a 
"  well-ordered  disorder."  Speaking  of  the  discipline  of  the 
army  while  it  lay  for  a  fortnight  in  the  camp  at  Vassadonne 
near  Orleans,  he  says  :  "Among  all  this  great  troop,  ye  should 
never  hear  God's  name  blasphemed.  There  was  not  a  pair  of 
dice  or  cards,  the  fountains  of  many  brawls  and  thefts,  walk- 
ing in  any  quarter.  .  .  .  Truly,  many  wondered  to  see  them  so 
well-disposed,  and  my  late  brother  the  Lord  of  Teligny  and 
myself,  discoursing  thereof  with  the  Lord  Admiral,  did  great- 
ly commend  it.  Whereupon  he  said  unto  us  :  'It  is  indeed  a 
goodly  matter  if  it  would  continue;  but  I  fear  this  people 
will  pour  forth  all  their  goodness  at  once,  so  as  within  these 


204:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

two  months  they  will  have  nothing  but  malice  left.  I  have  a 
great  while  governed  the  footmen,  and  do  know  them.  They 
will  fulfill  the  proverb  :  A  young  saint,  an  old  devil.  If  this 
fail,  we  may  make  a  cross  upon  the  chimney.'  We  smiled, 
but  took  no  farther  heed  thereof,  until  experience  taught  us 
that  herein  he  was  a  prophet."  The  admiral  had  not  long  to 
wait  for  the  fulfillment  of  his  prophecy.  At  Beaugency,  the 
Huguenot  force  treated  with  more  cruelty  the  Protestants 
who  had  been  unable  to  escape  than  they  did  the  Catholic 
soldiers  who  had  held  the  town  against  them.  "  Thus,"  con- 
tinues the  amusing  chronicler, "  thus  did  our  footmen  lose 
their  virginity,  and  of  this  unlawful  conjunction  ensued  the 
procreation  of  Lady  Picoree,  who  is  since  grown  into  such 
dignity  that  she  is  now  termed  madame  ;  yea,  if  this  civil  war 
continue,  I  doubt  she  will  become  a  princess.  Of  the  Catho- 
lics, I  will  say  that  at  the  beginning  they  were  likewise  well 
ordered,  and  did  not  much  annoy  the  commons."  The  Hu- 
guenots were  the  first  to  make  the  war  support  itself  by  con- 
tributions levied  upon  the  enemy.  When  the  admiral  was 
in  Normandy,  the  Catholic  population  of  Caen  was  required 
to  furnish  the  sum  of  10,000,  not,  however,  Tintil  Beza's  ap- 
peal to  his  co-religionists  for  money  had  utterly  failed.* 

Before  the  two  armies  came  into  actual  collision,  Catherine 
interposed  as  a  peace-maker.  She  saw  plainly  that,  whichever 
side  conquered,  the  crown  must  suffer,  and  that  it  would  be 
ruinous  to  her  power  to  allow  one  party  to  exterminate  the 
other.  Accordingly,  several  attempts  were  made  to  induce 
the  Huguenots  to  lay  down  their  arms.  Montluc  and  Vieille- 
ville  were  successively  dispatched  to  Orleans,  and  as  they 
could  obtain  nothing  from  the  confederated  nobles,  Catherine 
determined  to  try  the  effect  of  her  own  power  of  persua- 
sion. 

A  conference  took  place  on  the  2d  of  June  between  her 

*  Trcbutien  :  Caen,  Precis  de  son  Histoire  ;  also,  JKecherches  et  AntiquiUs 
de  Caen.  • 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  205 

and  Conde  at  Thorny  in  Beauce,  ten  leagues  from  Orleans. 
La  Noue  describes  the  armed  escorts  on  each  side,  sitting  on 
horseback  and  looking  at  each  other  for  half  an  hour,  "  each 
coveting  to  see,  one  his  brother,  another  his  uncle,  cousin, 
friend,  or  old  companion."  At  last  they  got  leave  from  their 
respective  commanders  to  speak  with  one  another.  They  met 
with  great  "  demonstrations  of  amity."  "  The  Catholics,  im- 
agining the  Protestants  to  be  lost,  exhorted  them  to  see  to 
themselves,  and  not  to  enter  obstinately  into  this  miserable  war, 
wherein  near  kinsmen  must  murder  one  another.  Hereto 
they  answered  that  they  detested  it ;  howbeit,  if  they  had  no  re- 
course to  their  defense,  they  were  assured  of  like  entreaty  as 
many  other  Protestants  had  received,  who  were  cruelly  slain 
in  sundry  parts  of  France.  Each  provoked  the  other  to  peace, 
and  to  persuade  their  superiors  to  hearken  thereto."  An  eye- 
witness writes :  "  On  the  1 7th  of  June  the  queen  set  off  again 
from  the  forest  of  Vincennes  in  great  haste,  and  it  was  believed 
this  time  that  she  would  conclude  a  peace  before  her  return. 
She  had  taken  medicine  and  been  bled  the  day  before,  being 
ill  through  a  fall  from  her  hackney,  going  and  coming  with 
such  dispatch." 

At  a  subsequent  interview  at  Talcy*  (28th  June,  1562), 
Conde,  yielding  to  the  persuasions  of  Montluc,  Bishop  of  Va- 
lence, offered  to  show  his  good  faith  by  leaving  the  country, 
provided  the  Guises  would  do  the  same ;  and  a  meeting  was 
fixed  for  the  next  day  at  which  the  conditions  of  this  singular 
agreement  were  to  be  arranged.  La  N"oue  tells  us  how  "  the 
prince  returned  to  his  camp  laughing  (but  between  his  teeth) 
with  the  chief  of  his  gentlemen  who  had  heard  aU  his  talk ; 
some  scratching  their  heads  where  they  itched  not,  others  shak- 


*  Talcy  (dep.  Loirct  Cher)  is  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire,  not  far  from 
Beaugency.  One  room  in  the  chateau  is  still  called  the  "chambre  tic 
Medicis."  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  Bartholomew  Massacre  was  planned 
here.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  Protestant ;  but,  owing  to  frequent 
alteration,  little  remains  of  the  original  buildinp,  except  the  donjon  and  a 
tower  or  two. 


206  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ing  them ;  some  were  pensive ;  and  the  younger  sort  gibed 
at  one  another,  each  one  devising  with  what  occupation  he 
should  be  forced  to  get  his  living  in  a  foreign  land."  "With 
similar  lightness  of  heart,  but  not  with  equal  chivalry,  the  gen- 
tlemen of  France  forsook  their  country  in  1789,  trusting  to 
return  in  a  few  weeks  to  a  land  which  most  of  them  never 
saw  again. 

Conde's  officers  refused  to  follow  him.  Coligny  supposed 
the  queen-mother  meant  no  harm,  but  thought  that  "  those 
who  had  weapons  in  their  hands  did  circumvent  her  to  the 
end  to  betray  them."  Andelot  said  to  the  prince :  "  If  you 
forsake  us  now,  it  will  be  said  that  you  do  it  for  fear.  The 
best  way  of  coming  to  an  agreement  is  to  lead  us  within  sight 
of  the  enemy.  We  can  never  be  perfect  friends,  before  we 
have  skirmished  a  little  together."  The  Lord  of  Boucarde, 
one  of  the  bravest  gentlemen  in  the  realm,  "  whose  head  was 
fraught  with  fire  and  lead,"  declared :  "  I  would  be  loth  to 
walk  up  and  down  a  foreign  land  with  a  tooth-pick  in  my 
mouth,  and  in  the  mean  time  see  some  flattering  neighbor  be 
the  master  of  my  house,  and  fatten  himself  with  my  revenues." 
These  opinions  being  generally  approved  of,  Conde  gave  way, 
and  "  they  all  shook  hands  in  confirmation  thereof."  Beza, 
who  was  present  at  this  council,  afterward  besought  the 
prince  "  not  to  give  over  the  good  work  he  had  begun  which 
God,  whose  honor  it  concerned,  would  bring  to  perfection." 
Thus  the  conference  came  to  nothing;  the  queen-mother  and 
Conde  separated,  "  each  very  sorry  that  they  had  no  better 
success." 

The  Huguenots  had  lost  much  valuable  time  by  this  at- 
tempted mediation ;  while  the  clergy  and  Parliament  of  Paris, 
improving  the  opportunity,  issued  an  order  for  those  of  the 
true  Church  to  take  up  arms  and  kill  the  heretics  like  mad 
dogs.  A  contemporary  denounces  this  proclamation  as  "  a 
means  to  arm  thieves,  vagabonds,  and  villains.  It  made  the 
ploughman  to  leave  the  plough,  and  the  craftsman  to  shut  up 
his  shop ;  it  changed  the  multitude  into  tigers  and  lions,  and 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  207 

fleshed  them  against  their  own  countrymen."  *  Woe  to  the 
vanquished,  for  atrocity  begets  atrocity !  A  manuscript  jour- 
nal of  this  year,  kept  by  some  person  attached  to  the  court, 
describes  the  fearful  state  of  Paris.  Every  day  had  its  tale  of 
outrage  and  murder  by  sword,  rope,  or  water.  Houses  were 
pillaged  and  razed  to  the  ground ;  cemeteries  were  broken 
open,  and  the  relics  of  the  dead  scattered  to  the  winds.  The 
voice  of  the  law  was  silent,  and  the  government  looked  on,  as 
if  powerless  to  prevent,  but  in  reality  pleased  to  see  their  ene- 
mies exterminated.  On  one  occasion,  a  child,  hardly  six 
months  old,  who  had  been  christened  by  a  Huguenot  pastor, 
was  rechristened  at  the  Church  of  St.  Germain  1'Auxerrois. 
More  than  10,000  spectators  were  witnesses  of  the  ceremony: 
the  bells  rang  out  joyous  peals  from  every  steeple,  and  the 
crowd  shouted :  "  Praised  be  God  for  the  recovery  of  the 
poor  little  soul."  These  profanations  of  the  holy  rite  of  bap- 
tism were  not  confined  to  Paris.  At  Le  Puy  the  infant  of 
"  an  apostate  "  was  christened  with  great  pomp  of  minstrels, 
arquebusiers,  and  "  taborins,"  the  lord-bishop  of  the  city  being 
godfather.f 

On  the  last  day  of  June  several  persons  were  murdered,  and 
among  them  a  woman  accused  of  not  going  to  mass  for  ten 
years.  She'  was  cruelly  beaten  and  then  flung  into  the  Seme, 
when  the  boatmen  knocked  her  on  the  head  with  oars  and 
poles.  Two  men  also  were  killed  and  thrown  into  the  river, 
charged  with  being  Huguenots.  The  blood-stained  doublet 
of  one  of  them  was  fastened  to  a  stick  and  carried  in  proces- 
sion through  the  streets  of  Paris  by  a  troop  of  noisy  children. 
"  This,  or  something  of  the  sort,  was  done  every  day,"  says 
the  court  chronicler, "  so  that  no  one  could  be  punished."  J  The 


*  This  edict  is  computed  to  have  caused  the  death  of  50,000  persons.  Jean 
dc  Sevres  (Enpl.  transl.),  p.  703;  M&n  de  Condi?;  Brulart's  Journal  (13th 
June,  1562);  Gacon,  i.  58.  Castelnau  speaks  of  the  "licence  de"bordc'e  de 
mal  faire." 

t  Medicis  MSS. 

J  Claude  Haton  reckons  that  800  or  900  heretics  were  killed  in  Paris  in 


208  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

blood-thirstiness  of  the  multitude  spread  even  to  the  young. 
Santa  Croce  writes  to  Cardinal  Borromeo :  "  Monsieur  d'En- 
ghien,  who  is  only  a  little  boy  of  seven,  is  always  saying  that 
we  must  no  longer  delay  to  burn  all  the  Huguenots  without 

mercy This  I  learned  from  the  constable,  who  expressed 

how  greatly  he  was  pleased  to  hear  it." 

The  Constable  Montmorency,  who,  as  governor  of  Paris, 
should  have  supported  the  authority  of  the  law,  was  one  of 
the  foremost  to  break  it.  He  took  such  pleasure  in  destroy- 
ing the  Huguenot  places  of  worship,  that  even  the  Catholics 
nicknamed  him  Mr.  Burn-bench.  In  one  day  he  pulled 
down  the  two  meeting-houses  at  Popincourt,*  and  the  mob 
bringing  the  timber  to  the  square  in  front  of  the  Ilotel-de- 
Ville,  burned  it  there  with  shouts  of  "  God  has  not  forgotten 
the  city  of  Paris."  The  pulpit  was  used  with  great  effect  to 
inflame  the  multitude.  At  the  Fete  Dieu,  Charles  of  Guise, 
"  the  bloody  cardinal,"  f  told  his  hearers  it  was  better  to  shed 
the  last  drop  of  their  blood  than  permit  God's  honor  and  his 
Church  to  be  defiled  by  the  presence  of  any  other  religion  in 
France  than  that  of  their  ancestors."  J 

Matters  became  so  bad  that  at  last  Queen  Elizabeth  instruct- 
ed her  embassador  to  leave  Paris,  "  because  he  could  not  wit- 
ness such  great  cruelties."  What  the  queen-mother  said  or 
did  to  conciliate  her  royal  sister  is  not  known ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  Catherine  was  much  grieved  at  this  state  of  affairs — diu 
multumque  flevit.  There  is  a  story  of  her  adopting  a  rather 
oriental  manner  of  learning  the  opinions  of  the  citizens.  Put- 
ting on  a  mask,  such  as  the  Italian  ladies  were  accustomed  to 
wear,  she  walked  through  the  streets,  accompanied  by  the 

June,  1562,  and  adds:  "God  knows  that  many  porters  and  rag-gatherers 
were  made  rich,  and  many  Huguenots  poor." 

*  The  Pincourt  or  Paincourt  of  the  plans.  It  was  in  the  Faubourg  St. 
Jacques,  beyond  the  walls,  and  on  the  road  to  Menilmontant.  The  Rue 
Popincourt  forms  the  chief  communication  between  the  Rue  Menilmontant 
and  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine. 

t  Les  Tragiques:  Les  Fers,  p.  226  (ed.  Jannct,  Paris,  1857). 

JPasquicr:  Lcttres,  p.  272  ;  Bayle,  sub  voce  "Lorraine." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  209 

Queen  of  Navarre.  They  went  into  the  shops,  pretending  to 
purchase,  and,  as  may  be  imagined,  heard  many  strange  things 
about  themselves  and  the  government.* 

All  efforts  at  conciliation  having  failed,  each  party  tried  to 
strengthen  itself  by  foreign  alliances.  Guise,  Montmorency, 
and  St.  Andre  had  already,  as  we  have  seen,  entered  into  a 
treasonable  arrangement  with  Philip  II.,  by  which  that  mon- 
arch bound  himself  to  aid  with  money  and  men  in  the  extir- 
pation of  heresy  in  France ;  "  on  no  pretense  to  spare  the  life 
of  any  heretic,"  says  the  /Sommaire.'f  The  duke  was  special- 
ly charged  "  to  blot  out  entirely  the  name,  family,  and  race  of 
Bourbon,  lest  from  them  some  one  should  arise  hereafter  to 
restore  the  new  religion."  In  pursuance  of  this  agreement  the 
King  of  Spain  wrote  to  the  queen-mother  offering  military 
support.  J  Pius  V.  ordered  collections  to  be  made  in  the 
states  of  the  Church,  gathered  contributions  from  the  Italian 
princes,  and  sent  a  small  force  of  mercenaries  across  the  Alps.  § 

In  self-defense  the  Huguenots  were  forced  to  appeal  to  their 
brother  Protestants  for  help ;  nor  were  Swiss,  Germans,  or 
English  deaf  to  their  appeal.  By  the  treaty  of  Hampton  Court 
(20th  Sept.,  1562)  Elizabeth  agreed  to  furnish  6000  men,  of 
whom  one-half  were  to  garrison  Havre,  as  a  material  guaran- 
tee until  the  end  of  the  war.  This  was  an  impolitic  conces- 
sion on  the  part  of  the  Huguenots ;  it  turned  many  friends 
into  enemies,  and  necessarily  drove  Catherine  into  the  arms  of 
the  coalition.  The  Duke  of  Guise,  only  a  few  years  before, 
had  by  the  capture  of  Calais  expelled  the  English  from  the 
"sacred  soil"  of  France;  and  now  the  Huguenots  were  trai- 


*  Revue  Retrospective,  T.  p.  81. 

f  Sommaire  des  Clioses  accord&s  entre  les  Dues  de  Guise,  de  Montmorenci  et 
Marechal  Saint-Andre".  Capefigue  recognizes  the  authenticity  of  this  atro- 
cious document. 

J  Chaloner  writes  from  Madrid  (1st  May,  15G2):  "They  devise  how  the 
Guisians  may  be  assisted,  for  ....  the  prevailment  of  that  side  importeth 
them  as  the  ball  of  their  eyes."  Haines  :  State  Papers,  p.  382. 

§  Throckmorton  writes:  "The  Pope  hath  lent  100,000  crowns,  and  doth 
monthly  pay  besides  6000  soldiers."  Forbes  :  State  Papers,  ii.  p.  4. 

o 


210  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

torously  inviting  them  back.  Unfortunately  Elizabeth's  be- 
havior only  served  to  strengthen  the  suspicions  of  the  French 
people.  Her  declared  object  was  "  to  check  the  aspirations 
of  the  Guisian  conspirators,  who  Avould  never  be  satisfied  un- 
til Scotland  and  England  were  united  under  one  crown,  and 
that  worn  by  Mary  Stuart."*  To  the  King  of  Spain  she 
wrote,  immediately  after  signing  the  treaty,  that  her  aim  was 
to  preserve  peace  "  by  securing  such  ports  as  be  next  us  from 
them  (Guisians),  without  intent  of  offense,  to  the  king."  f 
But  she  did  not  preserve  peace,  and  her  actions  did  offend. 

Hostilities  broke  out  long  before  these  negotiations  were 
concluded.  By  the  middle  of  June  the  two  armies  were  in  the 
field  and  ready  for  action.  They  were  not  large :  that  under 
Navarre  consisting  of  4000  foot  and  3000  horse,  that  under 
Conde  of  6000  foot  and  2000  horse.  The  first  movements 
were  favorable  to  the  Catholics.  Having  frustrated  an  at- 
tempt to  surprise  them,  the  royal  forces  prepared  to  attack 
Orleans,  the  Huguenot  head-quarters,  by  cutting  it  off  from 
the  surrounding  country.  They  retook  Blois,  Tours,  Poitiers, 
Angers,  and  Bourges,  almost  without  striking  a  blow,  signal- 
izing the  capture  of  these  cities  by  atrocities  which  could 
have  been  perpetrated  only  when  the  passions  of  a  fierce  sol- 
diery were  inflamed  by  religious  fanaticism.  At  Blois  a 
Avoman  found  praying  with  some  neighbors  was  tin-own  into 
the  water,  and  as  she  floated  was  beaten  with  sticks  and  pelted 
with  stones  until  she  died.  An  old  man  of  seventy  caught 
reading  the  Bible  was  immediately  massacred;  another  had 
his  eyes  plucked  out  and  was  then  knocked  on  the  head ;  an- 
other was  paraded  through  the  city  on  an  ass,  with  his  face 
to  the  tail,  pelted,  hooted,  and  drowned.  The  pastor  Chasse- 
bceuf  was,  by  Guise's  express  order,  hung  up  to  a  tree  with- 
out any  form  of  triaLJ  There  was  much  in  the  appearance 

*  Forbes:  Slate  Papers,  ii.  pp.  16-20r  22,25. 
1 1  Lid.  p.  54 ;  see  Latin  version  of  letter,  pp.  »5-57. 
t  The  popular  tradition  says  that  Chassebceuf  was  hanged  after  the  St. 
Bartholomew,  by  order  of  Henry  of  Guise. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  211 

of  Tours  to  rouse  the  fanaticism  of  the  soldiery.  For  some 
weeks  the  town  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Huguenots,  who 
seized  upon  the  churches,  stole  the  plate,  broke  the  images 
and  ornaments,  burned  the  service-books,  desecrated  the  relics, 
and  ordered  every  ecclesiastic  to  leave  the  place  in  twenty- 
four  hours  under  pain  of  imprisonment.  Contemporary  records 
describe  the  destruction  of  a  "  Calvary"  of  gold  and  azure, 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  which  sixty  years  before  had 
cost  the  large  sum  of  ten  thousand  ducats.  The  plunder  of 
the  churches  served  to  keep  up  the  war.  That  of  St.  Martin 
at  Tours  furnished  Conde  with  1,200,000  livres,  without  count- 
ing the  jewels  in  the  shrines.* 

When  the  king's  authority  was  restored  in  Tours,  mass 
was  ordered  to  be  sung  in  St.  Martin's  Church,  but  every  thing 
in  it  had  been  broken  or  destroyed,  except  the  stalls  in  the 
choir  and  a  few  of  the  painted  windows.  This  was  on  the 
13th  June,  and  on  the  14th  and  15th  of  the  following  month 
the*  massacre  occurred.  The  interval  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  it  was  caused  by  something  more  than  the  usual  mili- 
tary license  of  those  rough  days.  "We  shall  find  a  horrible 
sameness  in  these  stories:  men  and  women,  young  and  old, 
were  murdered  indiscriminately;  even  children  were  not 
spared.  Boats  filled  with  victims  were  sunk  in  the  river ;  thus 
anticipating,  by  more  than  two  centuries,  the  noyades  of  the 
infamous  Carrier.  Three  hundred  persons  were  shut  up  in  a 
church,  and  after  being  kept  there  for  three  days  without  food, 
were  bound  two  and  two  and  taken  to  the  escorcherie  (the 
knacker's  yard)  and  there  killed.  "Little  children  (whose 
parents  had  been  murdered)  could  be  bought  for  a  crown 
apiece,"  adds  D'Aubigne.  In  five  or  six  days  the  banks  of 
the  river  down  to  Angers  were  covered  with  dead  bodies, 
"  dont  les  bestes  memes  s'espouvantoyent,"  says  Crespin, "  at 

*  In  order  to  disappoint  the  enemy,  the  clerpy  often  appropriated  the 
church  treasures,  and  thus  the  circulating  medium  of  the  kingdom  was 
quadrupled.  Brantome  declares  that  "there  was  now  in  France  more  mil- 
lions of  gold  than  there  had  previously  been  livres  of  silver." 


212  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

which  even  the  wild  beasts  were  horror-stricken."  After  or- 
der had  been  restored  by  the  Duke  of  Montpensier,  a  minis- 
ter was  hanged  for  preaching  a  sermon  not  to  the  taste  of  his 
hearers.  Because  the  fronts  of  certain  houses  had  not  been 
decorated  with  hangings  during  the  procession  of  Corpus 
Christi,  some  of  the  inhabitants  were  drowned,  others  impris- 
oned, and  in  every  case  the  houses  were  thoroughly  gutted. 
Two  women  were  dragged  to  the  river  and  flung  into  water 
so  shallow,  that  they  could  not  drown,  whereupon  they  were 
beaten  to  death  with  oars  and  poles.  Jean  Bourgeau,  presi- 
dent of  the  city,  was  caught  while  attempting  to  escape  in  a 
boat  (30th  Nov.,  1562).  He  was  first  drowned  and  then  hang- 
ed to  a  tree  and  disemboweled,  "  because  not  only  had  he  been 
averse  to  punishing  the  heretics,  but  had  moreover  favored 
them  by  adhering  to  their  erroneous  opinions  and  oppressing 
the  Catholics."  * 

From  Tours  the  king's  forces  marched  to  Poitiers,  which 
fell  after  three  days'  cannonade,  and  Bourges  surrendered  aft- 
er a  siege  of  ten  days.  The  terms  of  capitulation  conceded 
to  the  inhabitants  were  an  amnesty  for  the  past  and  liberty 
of  conscience  according  to  the  Edict  of  January.  Orleans 
was  now  quite  insulated ;  but  the  Catholic  chiefs,  instead  of 
following  up  their  successes  in  that  direction,  drew  off  their 
army  to  Rouen,  through  which  they  feared  that  English  forces 
s  might  be  poured  into  the  country.  Rouen  was  at  that  time 
one  of  the  most  important  cities  of  France :  there  was  none 
in  the  north  to  equal  it  in  commerce,  wealth,  and  population. 
Situated  on  the  Seme,  midway  between  its  mouth  and  Paris, 
it  commanded  the  main  highway  into  the  interior ;  and,  so 
long  as  it  was  in  hostile  hands,  no  serious  attempt  could  be 
made  upon  the  strong  city  of  Orleans.  Strategical  and  politi- 

*  Paris :  Cab.  Hist.  vi.  p.  205.  Pcrissin's  vigorous  engraving,  "  Le  mas- 
sacre fait  a  Tours  par  la  populace,  1562,"  represents  dead  bodies  lying  naked 
on  the  river  bank- gnawed  by  dogs  and  birds;  men  in  boats  braining  with 
dubs  such  as  tried  to  save  themselves  by  swimming,  soldiers  shooting  at 
them  in  the  water ;  men  tied  to  trees  and  disemboweled,  etc. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  213 

cal  reasons  being  thus  in  favor  of  attacking  Rouen,  the  royal 
array,  now  18,000  strong,  under  the  orders  of  the  constable, 
sat  down  before  the  city  on  the  25th  September.  The  Count 
of  Montgomery's  garrison  was  about  4000  men,  of  whom 
nearly  half  were  English.  The  trenches  were  opened  to  the 
sound  of  music,  as  was  done  more  than  once  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XIV.  In  the  town,  as  in  the  Huguenot  armies  gener- 
ally, all  was  serious  and  severe ;  prayer-meetings  and  ser- 
mons with  psalm-singing  were  the  amusements  of  the  garrison, 
who,  like  the  Covenanters  and  Puritans,  fought  none  the 
worse  because  they  had  bent  the  knee  to  God  before  march- 
ing to  battle.  The  siege  was  pressed  vigorously,  for  the  cold 
nights  and  heavy  rains  of  autumn  were  approaching,  when 
the  royal  army  would  be  unable  to  keep  the  field.  The  citi- 
zens of  Paris,  who  were  anxious  to  recover  a  city  which  in- 
terrupted all  traffic  writh  the  sea,  offered  the  king  200,000 
crowns  to  pay  and  victual  the  besiegiAg  force.*  Catherine, 
attended  by  her  licentious  maids  of  honor — her  "  flying 
squadron,"  as  they  were  afterward  called — visited  the  army 
to  encourage  the  troops  by  her  presence.  It  is  said  that  she 
went  every  day  to  Fort  St.  Catherine,  where  the  fire  was  hot- 
test; and  when  the  constable  and  Guise  remonstrated  with 
her,  representing  that  it  was  not  her  duty  to  expose  her  life, 
she  answered :  "  Why  should  I  spare  myself  more  than  you  ? 
Have  I  less  interest  in  the  result,  or  less  courage  ?  True,  I* 
have  not  your  strength  of  body,  but  I  have  equal  resolution 
of  mind."  The  soldiers  called  her  "  mater  castrorum." 

On  the  26th  October  the  breach  was  stormed.  The  fatigued 
and  overmatched  garrison  made  but  a  feeble  resistance, 
and  the  city  was  won.  Montgomery  escaped,  but  those  who 
remained  had  to  suffer  all  the  extremities  of  a  town  abandon- 
ed to  the  passions  of  an  unscrupulous  soldiery.  The  command- 
ers had  forbidden  all  pillage — for  the  besieged,  though  reb- 
els, were  still  the  king's  subjects — but  the  indiscipline  of  the 

*  Vie  de  Coliyny,  p.  269. 


214:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

army  was  too  strong.  The  Swiss  mercenaries  obeyed  the  or- 
der, "but  the  French  soldiers  would  sooner  be  killed  than 
come  away  so  long  as  there  was  any  thing  to  take."  For 
three  days  the  license  endured,  when  the  king,  attended  by 
his  mother  and  the  parliament,  made  his  triumphal  entry 
through  the  breach,  and  put -an  end  to  the  outrages  of  the 
soldiery.* 

And  now  the  hour  of  vengeance  had  come.  The  Catholics 
remembered  how,  one  Sunday  in  May,  the  Huguenots,  in  the 
exultation  of  their  triumph,  had  sacked  and  defaced  the  cathe- 
dral and  thirty-six  parish  churches.  "  They  made  such  work," 
says  Beza,  "  that  they  left  neither  altar  nor  image,  font  nor 
benitier."  f  That  this  was  not  the  act  of  a  lawless  mob,  or  of 
a  sudden  excitement,  but  of  calmness  and  deliberation,  is  prob- 
able from  what  happened  about  the  same  time  at  Caen,  in 
the  same  province,  where  the  minister  Cousin  told  the  judges 
"  that  this  idolatry  had  been  put  up  with  too  long,  and  that  it 
must  be  trampled  down."  And  here  the  destroyers,  after  scat- 
tering the  ashes  of  "William  the  Conqueror,  breaking  or- 
gans, pictures,  pulpits,  and  statues,  to  the  estimated  value  of 
100,000  crowns,  had  the  impudence  to  ask  the  town  council  to 
pay  them  for  their  two  days'  work — which  was  done.J  At 
Rouen,  the  anger  of  the  Catholic  soldiery  was  increased  by 
the  conduct  of  the  Huguenot  clergy,  who  had  refused  the 
honorable  terms  of  surrender  which  had  been  offered  them, 
declaring  that  Heaven  would  work  a  miracle,  if  all  human 
means  should  fail,  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  Romanists.  That  miracle  was  not  worked,  and  one  of  the 
first  victims  of  this  tampering  with  the  Divine  will  was  Mar- 

*  For  an  English  account  of  the  siege,  see  Forbes :  State  Papers,  pp. 
117-127. 

t  La  Poupeliere,  whom  some  writers  have  confounded  with  the  historian, 
La  Popelinierc,  says :  "En  tous  les  rencontres  de  ceux  de  la  religion,  il  a 
fait  piller,  no  laissant  quo  les  murailles  et  que  les  terres  qui  ne  se  pouraicnt 
cm  porter."  Canton  (T  A  this,  p.  44. 

J  Cf.  De  Bras  de  Bourgcvillc,  a  contemporary.  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  <h  Caen, 
1852. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  215 

lorat,  chief  pastor  of  the  city.  He  had  been  an  Augustine 
monk,  and,  leaving  his  convent,  escaped  to  Geneva,  where  he 
abjured  Romanism.  Apostate  as  he  was  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Catholics,  he  was  permitted  to  appear  at  the  conference  of 
Poissy,  where  he  acted  as  the  Protestant  leader  until  Beza 
arrived.  Such  an  instance  of  toleration  ought  not  to  be  over- 
looked. 

When  Rouen  fell,  Marlorat  hid  himself,  but  his  hiding- 
place  was  betrayed,  and  he  was  imprisoned.  The  constable 
went  to  visit  him  in  his  dungeon,  and  charged  him  with  se- 
ducing the  people.  "  If  I  have,  God  seduced  me  first,"  he 
answered  ;  "  for  I  have  preached  nothing  but  his  pure  word." 
He  suffered  in  company  with  two  of  his  flock,  exhorting  them 
to  the  last.  The  high  bailiff  swore  a  terrible  oath,  and  struck 
him  with  his  official  staff  to  make  him  hold  his  tongue ;  and, 
as  he  was  hanging,  a  soldier  hacked  his  legs.  Beza,  who  re- 
cords these  things,  traces  the  finger  of  trod  in  the  misfortunes 
that  subsequently  befell  Marlorat's  persecutors  :  "  The  captain 
who  betrayed  him  was  killed  three  weeks  after ;  two  of  his 
judges  died  of  strange  diseases ;  the  soldier  who  hacked  his 
legs  was  killed  by  a  sword ;  and  the  high  bailiff  in  his  cups 
quarreled  with  Marshal  Vieilleville,  Avho  cut  off  the  hand  with 
which  he  had  struck  the  martyr."  Many  other  victims  fell  be- 
sides the  pastors,  and  the  prisons  were  so  crammed  with  pious 
men  and  women  that  Brevedent,  the  lieutenant  of  police, 
thought  it  his  duty  to  remonstrate  :  "  Why  do  you  crowd  the 
dungeons  ?"  he  asked.  "  Can  you  doubt  what  you  ought  to 
do  ?  Is  the  river  yet  full  ?" 

In  the  course  of  the  siege,  Anthony  of  Navarre  received  a 
bullet  wound  in  his  shoulder,  of  which  he  died  on  the  17th 
November  at  Andelys.*  During  his  feverish  wanderings,  he 
talked  to  his  attendants  of  the  orange  groves  of  his  expected 
kingdom  of  Sardinia,  and  of  the  golden  sands  of  its  rivers. 

*  "Par  1'oreillc,  1'dpanle,  et  1'ceil  Dieu  a  mis  trois  rois  :ui  cercueil;" 
meaning  Francis  II.,  Navarre,  and  Henry  II. 


216  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

No  wife  with  loving  hand  smoothed  his  dying-pillow.  She 
was  far  away  in  the  south,  training  up  her  children  in  all  god- 
liness ;  but  his  mistress,  Louise  de  Rouet,  stayed  with  him  to 
the  last.  Her  character  of  him  is  by  no  means  nattering: 
"  The  prince  (she  said)  changed  his  religion  and  party  almost 
as  easily  as  he  changed  mistresses."  After  he  had  received 
extreme  unction,  his  uneasy  conscience  would  not  let  him 
rest.  "  Read  me  a  chapter  of  the  Bible,"  he  said  to  his  physi- 
cian ;  and  after  the  latter  had  read  a  portion  of  Scripture,  An- 
thony interrupted  him,  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  exclaimed : 
"  If  I  do  but  get  well,  I  will  cause  the  Gospel  to  be  preached 
throughout  France."  But  his  good  resolutions,  if  sincere, 
came  too  late ;  and,  at  the  age  of  forty-four,  he  died  regretted 
by  neither  party.  Gamier  mentions  a  curious  peculiarity  of 
this  unworthy  king  without  a  kingdom :  he  was  so  irresistibly 
given  to  pilfering  that,  after  he  had  gone  to  bed,  the  pages 
used  to  search  his  pockets  in  order  to  restore  the  property  he 
had  stolen. 

Conde  was  much  grieved  at  the  Rouen  cruelties,  particular- 
ly with  the  hanging  of  Marlorat  and  others,  and  ordered  three 
persons  to  be  hanged  in  retaliation.*  The  army,  also,  was  so 
exasperated,  that  they  massacred  all  the  priests  they  found  in 
Pluviers;  and  when  the  Catholics  contended  that  the  king 
might  hang  his  rebellious  subjects,  they  replied  that  "his 
name  shrouded  other  men's  malice,  wherefore,  according  to 
the  proverb,  they  would  make  such  bread  such  brewisse" 
The  prince's  jest  is  well  known :  "  Our  enemies  have  given  us 
two  shrewd  checks  in  taking  our  rooks  (meaning  Rouen  and 
Bourges),  but  I  hope  that  now  we  may  catch  their  knights,  if 
they  take  the  field."  But  he  was  caught  himself. 

The  fall  of  Rouen  not  only  did  not  restore  peace,  but  the 
province  of  Normandy  became  more  disturbed  than  ever. 
Both  parties  were  eqiially  violent,  equally  unscrupulous.  They 

*  Jean  de  Troyes,  abbot  of  Gastines,  and  Sapin,  a  councillor  of  parlia- 
ment. The  life  of  a  third,  Odo  de  Selves,  was  spared,  but  he  died  a  few 
days  after  of  fright. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  217 

burned  or  plundered  each  other's  houses  and  farmsteads. 
The  neighborhood  of  Rouen  became  a  wide  waste,  and  the 
people  were  reduced  to  beggary.*  The  government  took  ad- 
vantage of  their  success  to  make  a  display  of  generosity  which, 
had  it  been  sincere,  might  have  terminated  the  war.  A  royal 
edict  promised  a  full  and  complete  amnesty  to  all  who  had 
taken  up  arms,  on  condition  that  they  ceased  to  attend  Prot- 
estant sermons,  and  conformed  outwardly  to  Catholicism. 
The  numerous  exceptions  to  this  act  of  grace  included  the 
heads  of  the  party,  persons  notoriously  seditious,  and  such  as 
had  profaned  the  churches.  A  few  gentlemen  accepted  these 
terms,  but  the  vast  majority  saw  that  the  edict  was  a  mere 
trick  to  separate  the  army  from  its  leaders. 

Battles  and  sieges  now  followed  in  quick  succession,  and  in 
all  parts  of  France  at  once.  Conde,  who  had  been  reinforced 
by  4000  lansquenets  and  300  reiters,  brought  from  Germany 
by  Andelot,  after  threatening  Paris  had  moved  into  Norman- 
dy, in  order  to  meet  the  auxiliaries,  about  3000  in  number, 
promised  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  He  was  followed  by  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  who  came  up  with  him  on  the  banks  of  the 
Eure,  a  long  narrow  plain  separating  the  two  armies.  The 
force  under  Conde  amounted  to  5000  foot  and  8000  horse, 
while  that  under  Guise  consisted  of  16,000  foot  and  3000 
horse.f  The  latter  fortified  "against  all  chances"  the  pet- 
ty town  of  Dreux,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  on  whose  top  there 
stood  a  castle  even  then  of  some  antiquity.  A  small  stream 
ran  through  the  plain,  which  was  covered  with  wood,  with 
here  and  there  a  hamlet  of  a  few  houses.  Early  in  that  dark 
winter's  morning  (19th  December)  Conde  prepared  for  battle. 
The  prince  went  through  the  ranks  exhorting  his  followers  to 
do  their  duty  as  became  Christians  and  loyal  subjects,  for  they 

*  "  Errantset  vacables  par  les  champs."  Floquet :  Hist,  du  Parl.  de.  Norm. 
ii.  p.  408.  The  Reyistres  of  the  H6tel-de-Ville  of  Rouen  (4th  Nov.,  15G2) 
contain  a  conciliatory  letter  from  Catherine  worthy  of  more  attention  than 
it  has  hitherto  received. 

t  Castelnau,  p.  125;  Throckmorton  to  Queen,  3d  January,  1563,  in 
Forbes,  State  Papers,  pp.  251,  263,  276. 


218  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

were  fighting  not  against  the  king,  but  against  his  evil  ad- 
visers ;  and  reminded  them  of  their  parents  and  friends  burn- 
ed and  massacred.  After  singing  a  psalm,  wherein  the  God 
of  Israel  summons  his  people  to  avenge  his  cause,  the  troops 
knelt  down  in  prayer,  and  as  soon  as  the  chaplain  had  ended, 
the  whole  army  thundered  out  Amen  !  For  two  hours  the 
armies  remained  face  to  face  within  cannon-shot.  "Every 
man  stood  fast,"  says  La  Noue,  "  imagining  in  himself  that 
they  that  came  against  him  were  no  Spaniards,  Englishmen, 
or  Italians,  but  Frenchmen,  and  those  of  the  bravest ;  among 
whom  were  their  companions,  friends,  and  kinsfolks,  and  also 
that  within  one  hour  they  were  to  slay  each  other.  This  bred 
some  horror,  nevertheless,  without  quailing  in  courage,  they 
thus  stayed  until  the  armies  moved  to  join."  About  one 
o'clock,  Conde  gave  the  signal  to  advance :  before  sunset  it 
was  all  over.  Heading  the  attack  in  person,  he  cut  through 
the  enemy's  line,  captured  some  of  his  cannon,  and  took  the 
constable  prisoner.  But,  like  Rupert  at  Edgehill,  he  followed 
up  the  pursuit  so  eagerly  and  so  far,  that  he  left  his  infant- 
ry exposed.*  The  Duke  of  Guise  saw  the  opportunity,  and 
sweeping  down  upon  them  with  the  cry  of  "  They  are  ours ! 
they  are  ours !"  drove  the  German  footmen  off  the  field. f 
The  native  Huguenot  infantry,  now  uncovered,  resisted  stout- 
ly, but  suffered  in  proportion.  Meanwhile  Conde,  who  was 
making  his  way  back  to  the  point  of  danger,  fell  to  the  ground 
in  a  small  hedge-row,  and  before  he  could  extricate  himself 
from  his  horse,  which  had  been  knocked  down  by  a  bullet,  a 
troop  of  Damville'sJ  brigade  came  up  and  took  him  prisoner. 
Coligny,  who  had  been  trying  to  make  up  for  the  prince's 
rashness,  saw  that  all  was  over,  and  made  preparations  to  save 
the  relics  of  the  defeated  army.  Gathering  round  him  the 

*  "The  cavalry  left  their  ranks,  thinking  it  no  shame  to  enrich  themselves 
with  the  spoils  of  the  Papists."  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  277. 

t  Montaigne,  liv.  i.  ch.  xlv.  (De  la  Battnille  de  Dreux},  highly  extols  this 
movement,  comparing  it  with  that  where  Philopocmen  defeated  Machanidas. 

J  Damville  was  the  constable's  second  son. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  219 

few  troops  that  remained  unbroken,  he  flung  himself  between 
the  fugitives  and  the  pursuing  foe,  to  whom  he  presented 
such  a  resolute  face  that  Guise  dared  not  attack  him.  There 
is  a  story  to  the  effect,  that  when  the  duke's  friends  advised 
him  to  pursue  the  Huguenots,  he  said,  "  Peace,  peace ;  I  have 
to  fight  with  a  worse  beast  than  all  the  Huguenots  put  to- 
gether." He  meant  Catherine  de  Medicis.  Several  fierce 
charges  were  made  upon  the  Huguenot  rear-guard,  in  one  of 
which  St.  Andre  was  captured,  and  afterward  murdered  in 
cold  blood.*  Although  a  drawn  battle  f  the  number  of 
killed  and  wounded,  according  to  a  statement  by  Ambrose 
Pare,  was  enormous :  "  I  saw  the  earth  covered  for  a  good 
league  all  round,"  he  says ;  "  they  were  reckoned  at  2500  men 
at  the  outside.  All  that  had  \)QCTL polished  off  in  less  than  two 
hours."J  Until  1 789  a  solemn  procession  took  place  every  year 
at  Dreux  to  commemorate  this  triumph  of  the  Catholic  cause. 
When  the  news  of  this  battle  reached  Paris,  the  citizens 
gave  way  to  transports  of  delight.  The  houses  were  illumi- 
nated ;  Te  Deums  were  sung  in  the  churches ;  salvos  of  ar- 
tillery were  fired  from  the  Bastille.  The  Duke  of  Guise  was 
made  lieutenant-general  and  decorated  with  the  Order  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Catherine  shared  the  common  joy,  and  when 
the  good  tidings  reached  Trent,  where  the  council  was  sit- 
ting, they  clapped  their  hands  in  exultation.  The  Catholics 

*  "The  constable,  so  hated  by  the  Keformed,  had  met  with  the  same 
fate,  but  for  the  interference  of  a  gentleman  named  Vesines,  who  showed 
them  the  baseness  of  the  act."  Vie  de  Coliyny,  p.  277. 

f  "  Ita  tantse  pugnas  exitum  moderatus  est  Deus,  neutra  uti  pars  victa  aut 
victrix  dici  possit."  Eytzinger,  p.  43 ;  Throckmorton's  letter  in  Forbes,  p. 
251 ;  and  Andelot's  on  p.  263. 

J  Pare' :  (Euvres,  p.  796  (fol.  Lyons,  1641).  La  None  estimates  the  killed 
alone  at  9000 ;  but  nothing  can  be  more  hap-hazard  than  the  way  in  which 
writers  of  the  period  speak  of  numbers.  Jean  de  Serres  says  the  prince  lost 
about  2200  foot  and  150  horse.  800  gentlemen  alone  were  killed.  Forbes, 
p.  276.  Beza  speaks  of  150  horse  killed  and  taken ;  but  on  the  enemy's 
side  "  infinita  sunt  vnlnera  ct  coedcs  maxima."  Walsingham  reckons  the 
admiral's  force  after  the  battle  as  5000  horse  and  2000  foot,  while  Guise 
had  3000  horse  and  16,000  foot."  Forbes,  p.  259.  Coligny  writes  to 
Elizabeth  :  "  Notre  cavalcric  cst  intacte." 


220  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

had,  indeed,  every  reason  to  exult,  for  if  victory  had  declared 
in  favor  of  the  Huguenots,  the  fortunes  of  France  might  have 
changed  with  its  religion.  "  Well,  then,  we  still  have  to  say 
our  prayers  in  French,"  said  Catherine,  when  the  first  re- 
ports of  the  battle  assigned  the  victory  to  Conde. 

Both  armies  now  retired  to  winter-quarters :  Coligny  lead- 
ing the  remnant  of  the  Huguenot  forces  to  Orleans,  and  Guise 
returning  to  Paris  with  an  escort  of  2400  Spanish  arquebus- 
iers.  Now  that  St.  Andre  was  killed  and  Montmorency  a 
prisoner,  the  duke  found  himself  the  most  powerful  man  in 
the  kingdom.  Reorganizing  his  troops  and  being  strongly 
reinforced,  he  marched  out  early  next  year  to  lay  siege  to  Or- 
leans, for  winter  brought  little  cessation  to  the  strife.  Co- 
ligny, who  was  in  great  want  of  money,  had  moved  into  Nor- 
mandy, to  re-open  his  communications  with  England,  having 
left  his  brother  Andelot  in  command  of  the  city.  The  latter-, 
though  suffering  severely  from  a  quartan  ague,  took  the  most 
active  measures  of  defense ;  but  Guise  was  no  mean  soldier, 
and  had  had  large  experience  in  sieges.  He  captured  one  of 
the  suburbs  by  assault ;  his  lines  drawing  closer  every  day  ef- 
fectually cut  off  aU  succor ;  the  admiral  was  too  weak  to  at- 
tempt to  raise  the  siege,  and  the  duke  had  fixed  the  final  at- 
tack for  the  1 9th  February.  Writing  to  the  queen-regent,  lie 
expressed  a  hope  that  she  would  not  be  displeased  if  he  de- 
stroyed every  thing  within  the  walls,  "even  to  the  dogs  and 
rats,"  and  sowed  the  foundations  of  the  city  with  salt.  It  is 
probable  that  there  would  have  been  a  terrible  massacre ;  but 
just  as  all  hope  seemed  lost,  the  hand  of  an  assassin  brought 
deliverance  (18th  February,  1563).  On  his  death-bed  Duke 
Francis  attempted  to  justify  himself  for  the  atrocities  at  Vas- 
sy,  protesting  that  he  had  neither  premeditated  nor  ordered 
them.  But  death-bed  confessions  are  rarely  authentic  enough 
to  be  relied  on :  they 'are  too  often  colored  by  the  report  of 
interested  witnesses.*  On  this  point  Maimbourg  and  Varil- 

*  Martin  thinks  the  account  of  the  Bishop  of  Riez  "evidemmcnt  arrange, 
gurtoiit  en  ce  qui  regardc  Vassi."  Hist.  France,  ix.  p.  152,  note. 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  221 

las  are  at  variance  —  the  latter  affirming  that  the  duke  prayed 
God  to  pardon  all  his  faults,  "  except  that  of  Vassy."  He  is 
also  reported  to  have  sent  a  message  to  the  queen-regent,  ad- 
vising her  to  make  peace  without  delay,  adding  that  "  the 
man  who  would  prevent  it  is  an  enemy  to  the  king  and  state." 
The  near  approach  of  death  had  probably  brought  that  wis- 
dom and  calm  judgment  in  which  he  was  so  deficient,  for 
only  a  month  earlier  Throckmorton  wrote  of  him  :  "  The  duke 
will  in  no  wise  accord  to  peace  till  the  Protestants  be  utterly 
exterminated."  *  When  Catherine  heard  the  news  of  his 
murder,  she  spoke  her  mind  pretty  plainly  about  him  :  "  The 
man  is  dead  I  hated  most  of  all  the  world."  And  when 
Conde  characterized  his  death  as  the  removal  of  a  burden,  she 
continued  :  "  If  the  kingdom  has  been  relieVed  of  one  bur- 
den, ten  have  been  taken  off  my  bosom." 

The  murderer  was  Jean  Poltrot  de  Mere,  a  gentleman  of 
Angoumois  and  a  convert  to  the  Reformed  faith,  whose  tem- 
per had  been  soured  by  misfortune.  Imagining  the  Duke  of 
Guise  to  be  the  great  obstacle  to  the  victory  of  the  Huguenot 
cause,  he  determined  upon  his  assassination,  and  after  watch- 
ing him  for  several  days,  succeeded  in  shooting  his  victim  as 
he  was  passing,  slenderly  escorted,  through  a  wood.f  Poltrot 
fled,  and  would  probably  have  escaped  ;  but  not  knowing  the 
country,  he  rode  round  and  round  until  he  returned  nearly  to 
the  spot  where  he  had  fired  at  the  duke.  lie  was  soon  cap- 
tured and  taken  to  Paris,  where,  after  being  tortured  to  force 
him  to  reveal  the  names  of  his  accomplices,  he  was  sentenced 
to  a  cruel  death.  He  was  dragged  to  the  place  of  execution 
on  a  hurdle,  surrounded  by  a  strong  guard  to  prevent  his 
being  torn  in  pieces  by  the  populace.  His  right  hand  was  cut 
off,  his  flesh  torn  by  pincers,  and  melted  lead  poured  into  the 
wounds.  His  limbs  were  then  tied  to  four  horses,  who,  pull- 
ing in  opposite  directions,  endeavored  -to  tear  him  asunder; 
but  they  pulled  in  vain,  until  the  hangman  severed  the  muscles 


*  Forbes,  p.  277.  t  Hid,  pp.  339  and  343. 


222  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

with  a  sword.     Finally  his  head  was  cut  off  and  his  body 
burned  to  ashes. 

While  stretched  upon  the  rack  in  the  torture-chamber,  Pol- 
trot  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  bribed  by  Coligny  to  kill 
the  duke.  It  is  true  he  had  been  much  in  the  Huguenot 
camp,  and  the  admiral  had  given  him  money  to  purchase  a 
horse — circumstances  that  tended  to  corroborate  his  confes- 
sion ;  but  his  hasty  execution,  without  confronting  him  with 
the  admiral,  or  giving  the  latter  an  opportunity  of  vindicat- 
ing himself,  was  highly  suspicious.  Some  persons  have  sup- 
posed that  the  queen-regent  had  a  share  in  the  murder,  on  the 
ground  that  she  once  said  (or  is  reported  to  have  said)  to  Ta- 
vannes  :  "  The  Guises  wished  to  make  themselves  kings,  but  I 
took  good  care  of  them  before  Orleans."  Both  suspicions  are 
equally  baseless,  but  the  Guise  family  persisted  in  charging 
Coligny  with  the  murder ;  and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that 
the  admiral's  conduct  and  language  were  not  altogether  satis- 
factory. In  his  remarks  on  Poltrot's  interrogatory  he  says, 
that  when  some  one  declared  he  would  kill  the  duke  in  the 
midst  of  his  soldiers,  he  had  not  discouraged  him  (ne  1'avait 
point  detourne),  adding  that  he  remembered  well  his  last  meet- 
ing with  Poltrot,  who  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  would  be 
easy  to  kill  M.  de  Guise,  and  that  he  (Coligny)  had  made  no  re- 
ply to  it, "  considering  it  to  be  mere  idle  talk."  In  a  letter  to  the 
queen-mother,  which  accompanied  these  remarks,  he  says : 
"  During  the  last  few  months,  I  have  no  longer  contested  the 
matter  against  those  who  displayed  such  intentions,  because  I 
had  information  that  certain  persons  had  been  practiced  upon 
to  kill  me  ....  Do  not  imagine,  however,  that  what  I  say 
proceeds  from  any  regret  which  the  duke's  death  occasions 
me.  No,  far  from  that,  I  esteem  it  the  greatest  blessing  that 
could  possibly  have  befallen  this  kingdom,  the  Church  of  God, 
and  more  especially  myself  and  all  my  house."  *  This  leaves 
no  doubt  that  Coligny  assented,  if  he  did  not  consent  to  the 

*  Schardius  redivivus  (fol.  1673):  Resjionsio,  in.  p.  113;  Ejristola,  iii.  119. 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  223 

crime.  He  was  not  unwilling  to  profit  by  it,  though  he  would 
do  nothing  to  further  it.  This  may  diminish  the  lofty  moral 
pedestal  on  which  some  writers  have  placed  the  Protestant 
hero ;  but  he  was  a  man,  and  had  all  a  man's  failings,  though 
he  may  have  controlled  them  by  his  religious  principles. 
Nor  was  assassination  considered  at  all  cowardly  or  disgrace- 
ful in  those  days ;  not  more  so  than  killing  a  man  in  a  duel 
Avas  until  very  recently  among  us. 

The  news  of  the  duke's  murder  was  received  with  a  cry  of 
horror  among  the  Catholic  party.  Pius  IV.  ordered  a  magnif- 
icent funeral  ceremony  to  be  performed  in  St.  Peter's,  and 
Julius  Poggianus,  in  his  sermon  on  the  occasion,  comparing 
Francis  to  Judas  Maccaba3us,  called  him  the  preserver  of 
France.  In  a  funeral  service  at  Notre  Dame  in  Paris,  the 
vicar-general  of  Rouen  extolled  the  duke,  but  would  not  pray 
for  him, "  car  fait  injure  au  martyr  qui  prie  pour  le  martyr." 
He  treated  Guise  as  a  sort  of  demi-god,  and  declared  that 
nothing  restrained  him  from  reckoning  the  murdered  man 
among  the  saints  but  his  respect  for  the  pope,  who  had  not  yet 
canonized  him.*  On  the  other  hand,  these  honors  only  served 
to  call  forth  a  torrent  of  vituperation  from  his  enemies. 
The  murder  was  openly  defended,  Poltrot  was  compared  to 
Judith,  and  ballads  were  sung  in  his  praise.f  He  was  called 

L'exemple  merveilleux 

D'unc  extreme  vaillance, 
Le  dixieme  des  preux, 

Liberatcur  de  France. 

In  another  ballad  we  are  told  that 

Dicu  suscita  le  vaillant  de  Mere, 
Qui  le  Guisart  a  massacre'. 

Even  Beza  conferred  on  him  the  martyr's  crown,  and  Cecil 


*  Labitte,  p.  15. 

t  Paris :  Cab.  Hist.  ii.  p.  280  ;  iii.  p.  46 ;   Vie  de  CoKyny,  p.  289 ;  Recutil 
dcs  Chants  Hist.  Paris,  1842. 


224  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

"  was  very  glad  to  hear  of  the  duke's  hurt,  and  could  wish 
his  soul  in  heaven."* 

The  times  were  favorable  for  peace.  The  Duke  of  Guise 
dead  and  the  constable  a  prisoner,  there  was  no  one  to  take 
the  command  of  the  royal  army.  "  I  was  obliged  to  com- 
mand it  myself,"  said  Catherine, "  for  Brissac  was  so  ill  that 
he  could  not  leave  his  bed."  On  the  other  hand,  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  with  all  his  desire  for  liberty,  was  unwilling  to 
change  "  the  soft  air  of  the  court  and  the  smiles  of  the  ladies  " 
for  the  austerities  of  the  Huguenot  camp.  His  offer  to  become 
the  channel  of  negotiations  betAveen  the  two  religions  was  ac- 
cepted, though  not  without  opposition  from  the  embassadors 
of  Philip  II.  and  the  pope,  Avho  were  for  continuing  the  war- 
The  Duke  of  Tuscany  expressed  his  dissatisfaction  at  the 
negotiations ;  and  the  queen-regent,  to  quiet  them,  seems  to 
have  hinted  that  the  pacification  would  be  only  a  trap. 
Santa  Croce  writes  :  "  If  any  opportunity  is  found  of  infring- 
ing the  articles  of  this  treaty,  they  will  not  be  kept  .... 
Should  the  queen  do  as  she  promises,  means  will  be  found 
of  punishing  these  people  when  they  are  disarmed  and  dis- 
persed." But  the  peace  party  was  too  strong,  and  the  terms- 
of  a  treaty  were  soon  agreed  upon.  Before  finally  accepting 
them,  the  Prince  of  Conde  consulted  the  synod  then  assembled 
at  Orleans;  but  that  impracticable  body,  while  claiming 
absolute  liberty  for  themselves,  would  have  denied  it  to  those 
whom  they  called  "  atheists,  libertines,  and  anabaptists."  As  it 
would  have  been  useless  to  attempt  to  reconcile  the  extreme 
fanatics  on  both  sides,  the  Pacification  of  Amboise  was  signed 
on  the  19th  March,  1563.  The  right  of  public  worship  con- 
ceded by  the  Edict  of  January  was  greatly  restricted,  the 
Huguenots  being  no  longer  permitted  to  assemble  outside 
the  walls  of  the  cities,  but  only  in  a  single  place  within  every 
bailliage  inhabited  by  Protestant  nobles  and  their  retainers. 
On  the  other  hand,  one  clause  expressly  bore  that  "  every  man 

*  Wright's  Elizabeth,  i.  125. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  225 

should  live  at  liberty  in  his  own  house,  without  search  or 
molestation,  and  without  being  vexed  or  constrained  for  con- 
science' sake."  Although  the  treaty  was  acceptable  to  the 
majority  of  the  Huguenot  party,  who  were  growing  tired  of 
the  war,  all  were  not  equally  pleased.  The  admiral,  who  had 
protested  against  it,  characterized  it  by  a  single  phrase: 
"  That  stroke  of  the  pen  throws  down  more  churches  than  the 
enemy's  soldiers  could  have  destroyed  in  ten  years." 

Notwithstanding  the  insinuations  of  Cardinal  Santa  Croce, 
that  "  she  would  pacify  every  thing  in  a  few  hours  whenever 
she  pleased,"  *  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  reason  to  doubt 
Catherine's  sincerity.  It  was  her  interest  to  pacify  the  coun- 
try in  a  sense  very  different  from  that  intended  by  the  papal 
envoy :  she  had  something  more  to  fear  than  the  hostility  of 
the  Huguenots.  Spain  was  looking  on,  eager  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  distresses  of  France,  and  a  continuation  of  the  war 
could  bring  nothing  but  disaster  whichever  side  prevailed. 
Less  than  a  year  of  civil  strife  had  been  sufficient  to  exhaust 
the  finances  of  the  country,  to  accumulate  an  immense  debt,  to 
destroy  commerce,  and  to  throw  half  the  land  out  of  cultiva- 
tion. Castelnau's  testimony  in  this  matter  is  indisputable : 
"  Agriculture  was  abandoned ;  multitudes  of  towns  and  vil- 
lages, pillaged  and  burned,  were  deserted,  and  the  poor  laborers, 
driven  from  their  homes,  dispoiled  of  their  furniture  and  cat- 
tle, robbed  to-day  by  one  party,  to-morrow  by  another,  fled 
like  wild  beasts,  leaving  all  they  had  to  the  mercy  of  those 
who  were  without  mercy.  Commerce  was  quite  given  up : 
no  one  was  secure  of  his  property  or  life.  .  .  .  Thus  the 
war,  undertaken  for  religion,  annihilated  religion  and  piety."  f 


*  Letter  dated  29th  March,  1563. 

t  Correro,  the  Venetian  ambassador,  writes :  "  Come  cominciorno  a  rubare, 
rovinare  e  ammazzare,  usando  mille  crudelta,  questo  fu  avvcrtimcnto  alle 
povere  gente,  che  da  loro  istessi  cominciorno  a  dire :  Ma  che  rcligionc  e 
questa?  Costoro  che  fanno  professione  d'  intender  meglio  1'evangelio  di 
nissnno  altra,  e  dove  trovano  mai  che  Cristo  comandasse  che  se  pigliasse  la 
robba  del  prossimo  c  si  ammazzasse  il  compagno  ?  E  con  simili  considera- 

P 


226  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

"  The  Catholics,"  adds  Claude  Haton,  "  were  as  great  thieves 
and  brigands  as  the  Huguenots."  The  husbandman,  no  longer 
able  to  till  his  fields  in  safety,  either  joined  the  army  orturned 
robber — a  difference  more  in  name  than  in  reality.  In  many 
parts  they  banded  together  to  protect  themselves,  but  they 
soon  became  little  better  than  brigands,  attacking  travelers, 
and  ransoming  the  smaller  towns  and  villages.  In  the  Ven- 
domois  they  were  so  violent  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  prov- 
ince united  to  repress  their  excesses  and  restore  order,  put- 
ting at  their  head  the  poet  Ilonsard,  a  gentleman  and  also  a 
parish  priest.  "  There  are  too  many  people  in  France,"  shout- 
ed the  leader  of  one  of  the  wild  gangs  called  Barefeet  (Pieds- 
Nus) ;  "  we  will  kill  a  lot  of  them  and  make  bread  cheap."  * 
These  ruffians  committed  horrible  atrocities  in  Champagne, 
sacking  the  houses  of  rich  and  poor  alike,  killing  the  men 
and  reserving  the  women  for  a  worse  fate.  At  Ceant-en- 
Othe,  inhabited  chiefly  by  Protestants,  they  burned  the  vil- 
lagers alive  in  their  cottages.  A  poor  girl,  after  enduring  un- 
utterable barbarities,  was  covered  with  straw  and  roasted  alive, 
as  they  would  have  scorched  a  dead  pig.  One  man  was 
tied  to  a  post  and  used  as  a  target  for  their  arquebuses. 

Trade  suffered  not  less  than  agriculture,  for  commerce  can 
not  thrive  without  the  security  of  peace  and  law.  Inter- 
course between  town  and  town  was  almost  entirely  cut  off, 
for  the  highways  were  no  longer  safe  except  to  strong  bodies 
of  armed  men.  Tradesmen  and  mechanics,  therefore,  quitted 
their  counters  and  workshops  for  the  camp ;  and  members  of 
the  inferior  clergy,  whose  revenues  had  been  extinguished  by 
the  troubled  state  of  affairs,  flung  aside  the  frock  and  assumed 
the  cuirass.  And  as  if  to  make  the  confusion  more  com- 

zioni  si  frenevano,  ne  pin  si  precipitavnno  come  prima."  Tommaseo,  ii.  p. 
118. 

*  Jean  de  Serres  puts  a  similar  repl y  into  the  mouth  of  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
when  a  complaint  was  made  to  him  that,  in  these  "uncivil  tumults"  many 
Catholics  were  slain:  "There  is  no  remedy,"  he  made  answer;  "we  have 
too  much  people  in  France.  I  will  deal  so  as  victuals  shall  be  good  cheap." 
Hist.  p.  703(transl.). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  227 

plete,  justice  could  not  be  administered,  so  much  were  the  tri- 
bunals overawed  everywhere.  In  Paris  the  anarchy  seems  to 
have  been  complete,  each  man  being  a  law  to  himself.  Not 
even  in  the  terrible  revolution  that  closed  the  eighteenth 
century  were  the  bonds  of  society  more  thoroughly  relaxed. 

The  royal  edict  which  carried  out  the  provisions  of  the 
treaty  of  Amboise  met  with  considerable  opposition  from  the 
Catholics.  At  first,  all  the  parliaments  of  the  kingdom  re- 
fused to  register  it,  and  their  resistance  was  only  to  be  over- 
come by  the  direct  intervention  of  the  crown.  The  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris  yielded  under  protest ;  that  of  Dijon  would  not 
give  way.  The  Duke  of  Aumale,  brother  t<5  the  murdered 
Francis  of  Guise,  and  governor  of  Burgundy,  supported  the 
parliament  in  their  resistance,  and  declared,  "  There  shall 
sooner  be  two  suns  in  heaven  than  two  religions  in  my  gov- 
ernment." When  the  municipality  of  Amiens  was  in  due 
course  instructed  to  act  in  conformity  with  the  edict,  they 
pleaded  that  the  instructions  were  insufficient,  and  put  them 
aside  until  the  king  wrote  to  them  in  a  tone  that  was  not  to 
be  trifled  with.  The  disappointment  of  the  fanatic  Catholics 
is  manifest  from  a  plot  formed  by  a  "  fraternal  association  " 
to  massacre  all  the  Huguenots  in  the  capital.  All  not  of  the 
Guise  faction,  and  such  as  were  moderate  either  in  religion  or 
politics,  were  termed  "  suspects,"  and  as  such  condemned  to 
be  sacrificed.  L'Hopital,  "  the  traitor  chancellor,"  and  Mont- 
morency,  "  le  mauvais  riche,"  were  to  be  the  first  victims. 
The  plot  was  discovered  and  frustrated  by  Joan  of  Navarre, 
and  some  of  the  most  violent  of  the  civic  conspirators 
were  hanged  at  their  own  windows  without  any  form  of 
trial.* 

The  pope  did  not  openly  protest  against  the  Pacification  of 
Amboise,  but  virtually  condemned  it  by  a  bull  to  the  cardinal 

*  The  particulars  of  this  plot  are  given  in  a  letter  from  Claude  of  Lorraine 
to  Damville,  the  date  of  which  has  been  fraudulently  altered  from  15C3  to 
1560.  See  Vauvilliers,  i.  315.  Tavannes  says  the  plot  was  concocted  at 
Trent  by  the  cardinal,  and  Lcstoile  dates  the  League  from  this  period. 


228  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

inquisitors-general  (7th  April,  1563),  permitting  them  to  take 
proceedings  against  heretics  and  their  supporters,  even  in  the 
states  beyond  their  jurisdiction.  The  opposition  of  the  court  of 
Spain  was  entirely  selfish.  Philip  II.  knew  that  peace  in  France 
was  dangerous  to  tyranny  in  the  Netherlands.  Strength- 
ened by  his  discontent,  the  Spanish  faction  openly  set  the  trea- 
ty at  defiance.  The  government,  however,  was  sincere  in  its 
desire  for  tranquillity,  and  Catherine  labored  earnestly  to  con- 
ciliate the  malcontents.  When  Jacques  Philippeaux  was  sent 
to  Gap,  he  called  upon  the  Huguenots  to  deliver  up  their  arms, 
but  granted  them  liberty  of  conscience,  and  permitted  them 
to  bury  their  dead  in  the  general  cemetery  with  their  own 
forms  and  ceremonies,  until  another  place  could  be  provided. 
But  such  instances  of  toleration  and  charity  were  rare ;  for 
France  was  like  the  sea,  where  the  waves  continue  to  rise  long 
after  the  storm  has  ceased. 

Early  in  the  course  of  the  war,  Coligny  had  the  misfortune 
to  lose  his  son  after  a  short  illness  of  six  days.  He  felt  the 
blow  keenly,  and  to  comfort  his  wife,  who  took  it  very  much  to 
heart,  he  wrote  the  following  letter :  "  Although  you  may 
grieve  over  the  loss  of  our  dear  child,  yet  I  must  remind  you 
that,  as  it  was  God's  pleasure  to  take  him,  so  it  should  be  ours 
to  obey  His  will.  He  was  a  good  child,  and  we  might  have 
entertained  great  hopes  of  one  so  well  conducted ;  but  re- 
member, dearest,  that  we  can  not  live  without  offending  God, 
and  that  our  boy  is  happy  in  dying  at  an  age  when  he  was 
exempt  from  sin.  It  was  God's  will,  and  I  offer  Him  my  oth- 
er children,  if  it  be  His  pleasure.  Do  the  same,  if  you  desire 
He  should  bless  you,  for  in  Hun  we  should  place  all  our  hope. 
Farewell,  my  dearly  beloved.  I  hope  to  see  you  shortly, 
which  will  be  a  great  joy  to  me." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  229 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CHAOS. 

[1562-1563.] 

Nature  of  the  Struggle — Montluc — His  Barbarity — Des  Adrets — His  Feroc- 
ity— Murders  at  Gaillac — The  Reform  in  Provence  and  Languedoc — 
Scenes  at  Orange — Revolt  at  Valence — Disturbances  at  Lyons — Compro- 
mise— La  Rochelle — Massacre  at  Toulouse — Exodus  of  Sisteron — Sauter- 
ies  of  Macon — Limoux — Palm  Sunday  at  Castelnaudary — The  Monks  of 
St.  Calais — Violence  in  Berry — The  Chatelaine  of  Avallon — The  Proctor 
of  Bar — Atrocities  of  the  Bishop  of  Le  Mans  and  his  Lieutenant — Hugue- 
not Cruelties  at  Dieppe  and  Bayeux — Angouleme — Quarrels  at  Court — 
Siege  of  Havre — Duplicity  of  English  Government — Charles  Proclaimed 
of  Age — His  Character — Council  of  Trent. 

WHILE  the  events  we  have  described  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter were  taking  place  in  the  north  and  west  of  France,  the 
rest  of  that  beautiful  land  was  a  prey  to  anarchy  and  all  the 
direst  evils  of  civil  war.  In  our  favored  country,  where  inter- 
necine strife  has  been  so  long  unknown,  and  where,  even  in  its 
worst  days,  Englishmen  never  forgot  that  they  were  brothers, 
we  can  hardly  picture  to  ourselves  the  frightful  condition  of 
France  during  the  whole  reign  of  Charles  IX.  A  few  scat- 
tered incidents  must  be  taken  as  a  sample  of  the  hideous  mass 
of  horrors :  to  repeat  a  tenth  part  of  them  would  sicken  and 
disgust  the  least  sensitive  of  readers. 

Foremost  among  the  blood-stained  heroes  of  these  cruel 
scenes  are  two  personages,  distinct  yet  alike,  to  whom  no  par- 
allel can  be  found  except  in  the  sanguinary  butchers  of  the 
Revolution  of  1789.  They  are  Montluc  and  Des  Adrets. 

Blaise  de  Montluc  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  Italian 
wars  of  Francis  I.  He  had  been  made  prisoner  at  Pavia,  and 
had  decided  the  wavering  fortunes  of  Cerisoles.  As  lieuten- 


230  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ant  of  Guyenne  he  was  ordered  to  reduce  that  province  to 
submission,  and  he  did  it  in  a  very  characteristic  manner, 
putting  his  Huguenot  prisoners  to  death  without  permitting 
them  to  say  a  word,  "  for  they  have  golden  tongues."  Terror 
was  his  great  weapon,  and  he  used  to  boast  that  any  one  could 
know  which  way  he  had  passed  by  the  "  marks  "  he  left  upon 
the  trees  by  the  roadside,  adding,  with  a  grim  smile,  that 
"one  man  hanging  frightens  more  than  a  hundred  slain." 
His  "Commentaries,"  an  autobiographical  sketch,  which  he 
composed  when  years  and  disease  prevented  his  using  the 
sword  any  longer,  are  a  curious  illustration  of  the  state  of 
mind  to  which  a  man  can  be  brought  who  makes  mere  milita- 
ry discipline  the  principle  of  his  actions.  Reform  was  insub- 
ordination ;  "  obedience  to  the  king's  edict  or  death  " — he  al- 
lowed no  middle  course.  One  day  he  hanged  six  prisoners 
without  a  minute's  delay.  "  Why,"  said  the  terrified  neigh- 
bors when  they  heard  of  it,  "  he  puts  men  to  death  without 
trial."  What  need  of  trial  ?  he  would  have  replied ;  you  are 
in  arms  against  the  king.  At  St.  Mezard  four  prisoners  were 
brought  before  him  as  he  stood  in  the  church-yard,  his  two 
executioners  behind  him  with  their  swords  drawn;  they 
always  accompanied  him,  with  cords  and  other  implements  of 
their  office.  One  of  the  prisoners  was  charged  with  seditious 
language.  Montluc  caught  him  violently  by  the  throat: 
"Rascal,  how  dare  you  insult  the  king  with  your  ribald 
tongue?"  " Mercy,  mercy !"  cried  the  man.  "What!  expect 
me  to  spare  you  when  you  have  not  spared  your  king !"  And, 
in  a  towering  passion,  Montluc  threw  the  poor  wretch  to  the 
ground,  his  head  falling  on  a  broken  monument.  "Strike, 
scoundrel!"  roared  Blaise  to  one  of  his  executioners;  and  at 
the  word  the  sword  fell,  decapitating  the  man,  and  chipping  a 
fragment  of  stone  from  the  slab.  Two  others  were  hanged 
on  a  tree  hard  by,,  and  the  fourth  was  scourged  so  severely 
that  he  died  a  few  days  after.  Montluc  complacently  adds, 
"  And  this  was  the  first  execution  I  ordered  after  starting 
from  home,  without  trial  or  sentence,  for  I  have  heard  say 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  231 

that  in  these  matters  you  should  hang  first.  ...  It  shut 
the  mouths  of  many  seditious  people."  He  avenged  M.  Fu- 
mel's  murder  by  hanging  or  breaking  on  the  wheel  in  one  day 
between  thirty  and  forty  persons,  innocent  as  well  as  guilty. 
The  hot-headed  Huguenots  of  the  south  retaliated  at  Cahors 
by  hanging  as  many  Catholics  as  they  could  catch,  fourteen  or 
fifteen  in  number,  who  had  assisted  Montluc  in  his  atrocities. 
At  Gironde  he  made  a  capture  of  some  eighty  Huguenots,  of 
whom  he  hanged  seventy  to  the  pillars  of  the  market-house 
"  sans  autre  ceremonie."  Describing  his  doings' at  the  village 
of  Feugaroles,  he  says :  "  We  were  so  few  that  we  were  not 
able  to  kill  all:  the  bandoliers  shot  them  down  like  game." 
In  one  of  his  expeditions  he  fell  in  with  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
who  received  him  very  badly,  and  to  his  great  surprise  "  called 
him  a  tyrant,"  and  otherwise  reproached  him.  His  ferocity 
he  considered  a  virtue,  and  justified  his  cruelty  as  necessary 
to  get  the  better  of  his  enemies.  "  God,"  he  adds,  "  must  be 
very  merciful  to  us,  considering  the  evils  we  commit."  * 
He  was  thankful  not  without  reason,  for  at  the  end  of  the  war 
he  was  richer  by  100,000  crowns. 

Still  more  ferocious,  and,  if  possible,  with  still  fewer  redeem- 
ing qualities,  was  Francois  de  Beaumont,  baron  des  Adrets, 
whose  name  is  still  used  in  the  south  to  scare  naughty  children. 
Ostensibly  he  was  a  Protestant,  but  in  reality  a  mere  agent  of 
the  queen-mother  against  the  Lorraine  party.f  He  would 
sometimes  amuse  himself  by  making  his  prisoners  leap  from 
the  top  of  a  tower,  or  from  a  high  window,  on  the  pikes  of 
his  soldiers  stationed  below.  On  one  occasion — it  was  at 

*  Blaise  de  Montluc :  Commentaires  (Pantheon  Litte'raire,  Paris,  1836).  His 
shattered  monument  may  still  be  seen  at  Estillac  near  Agen.  The  warrior, 
armed  from  head  to  foot,  lies  bare-headed  on  a  marble  slab,  his  arms  crossed 
over  his  breast;  his  features  are  coarse  and  bold,  his  beard  and  mustache 
thick  and  lonp. 

t  The  Abbe  Caveyrac  in  his  Apology  for  Louis  XIV.  (note,  p.  7)  says  of 
the  subsequent  recantation  of  this  blood-thirsty  renegade,  that  "  he  returned 
sincerely  to  God."  Let  us  hope  he  did,  but  on  better  grounds  than  Cavey- 
rac's  word  for  it. 


232  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Montbrison,  in  August,  1562 — a  prisoner  hesitated,  upon 
which  Des  Adrets  reproached  him  with  cowardice.  The 
other  retorted:  "I  dare  you  to  do  it  in  ten  times,"  which 
caused  his  life  to  be  spared.  The  slaughter  in  that  little  town 
was  fearful :  more  than  eight  hundred  men,  women,  arid  chil- 
dren were  murdered ;  the  streets  were  strewn  with  corpses, 
and  "the  gutters  looked  as  if  it  had  rained  blood,"  says  a 
contemporary.  At  another  time,  though  this  belongs  to  a 
different  period  of  his  history — the  baron  marched  to  besiege 
Valence,  where  (as  we  shall  see  presently)  the  Reformed  had 
revolted  and  seized  upon  the  Grey  Friars'  Church.  In  defi- 
ance of  his  threats,  they  publicly  celebrated  the  Lord's  Supper 
in  the  appropriated  church,  as  many  as  5000  partaking  of  the 
sacrament.  They  afterward  came  to  terms  with  him,  agree- 
ing to  open  their  gates  and  restore  the  church ;  but  Des 
Adrets  had  no  sooner  entered  than  he  seized  a  number  of 
Protestants  and  sentenced  them  to  lose  their  heads.  They 
were  taken  to  punishment  with  their  mouths  gagged;  and 
after  being  dismembered,  their  limbs  were  fastened  to  the 
doors  of  the  church  they  had  profaned.*  Strange  to  say, 
however,  the  baron  professed  to  deplore  the  cruel  necessities 
of  war,  and  excused  his  barbarities  by  pleading  that  it  was 
not  cruelty  to  retaliate.  "The  first  acts  are  cruelties,"  he 
said,  "  the  second  mere  justice."  De  Thou,  who  saw  him  at 
Grenoble,  describes  his  green  and  vigorous  old  age,  his  fierce 
eyes,  and  thin,  fleshless  features,  marked,  like  Sylla's,  with  red 
spots,  as  of  blood,  f 

The  ferocity  of  Des  Adrets  was  exceeded  by  the  atrocities 
committed  under  the  eyes  of  Cardinal  Strozzi,  Bishop  of  Albi, 
who  excited  the  populace  of  Gaillac  to  massacre  their  Protest- 
ant brethren,  with  whom  they  had  hitherto  lived  on  friendly 
terms.  About  seventy  Huguenots  were  seized  as  they  were 

*  Lc  Baron  dc  Chapuys-Montlaville :  Hist,  de  Davphine,  ii.  p.  358  (8vo. 
Paris,  1829). 

t"Huboribns  intcrfusa,  ut  liituin  sanguine  maceratum."  Thuanus:  De 
Vita  sua,  lib.  i.  p.  1165. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  233 

attending  divine  worship,  and  thrust  into  a  dungeon  of  the 
abbey  of  St.  Michael,  situated  on  a  precipitous  rock  above  the 
river  Tarn.  A  laborer,  wearing  the  judicial  cap  and  robe  of  a 
magistrate  whom  he  had  killed,  went  through  the  farce  of  try- 
ing the  prisoners  and  condemning  them  to  be  thrown  from 
the  wall  into  the  river.  Boatmen  were  stationed  on  the  banks 
of  the  stream  to  brain  such  as  were  not  killed  by  the  fall. 

In  the  south  of  France,  the  Reformed  doctrines  had  ex- 
tended more  widely  and  struck  deeper  root  than  in  other  parts 
of  that  kingdom.  This  difference  was  owing  fo  a  combina- 
tion of  many  causes.  The  great  cities  of  Provence  and  Lan- 
guedoc  still  retained  many  of  their  municipal  privileges,  dat- 
ing from  the  time  of  the  Roman  dominion,  which  made  them 
almost  republican.  This  begat  the  spirit  of  independence 
which  always  accompanies  self-government.  Moreover,  the 
Albigensian  crusade  of  the  thirteenth  century  had  not  exter- 
minated heresy :  the  opinions  that  had  been  so  bitterly  perse- 
cuted fastened  their  roots  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the  southern 
population,  where  they  lay,  generation  after  generation,  wait- 
ing for  the  opportunity  of  displaying  themselves.  It  came  at 
last,  and  with  it  a  desire  to  revenge  themselves  on  the  descend- 
ants of  those  who  had  devastated  the  fair  south  with  fire  and 
sword.  It  was  an  oppressed  nation  rising  against  their  op- 
pressors, the  sins  of  the  fathers  being  visited  upon  the  chil- 
dren. At  the  first  outbreak  of  hostilities,  the  Huguenots  seized 
upon  the  churches,  which  they  purified  of  all  marks  of  idola- 
try, destroying  the  relics  and  making  a  jest  of  the  consecrated 
wafer.  In  some  towns  they  entirely  forbade  the  Catholic  wor- 
ship, turned  the  nuns  from  their  convents,  and  even  compelled 
them  to  marry.  Beza,  in  a  letter  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  ex- 
pressed himself  plainly,  though  not  very  strongly,  upon  the 
matter  :  "  About  this  destruction  of  images  I  can  say  nothing 
more  than  what  I  have  always  felt  and  preached,  that  such  a 
mode  of  procedure  does  not  at  all  please  me."  The  violation 
of  sepulture  he  declared  to  be  utterly  without  excuse,  and  that 
Conde  was  determined  to  punish  it. 


23-i  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

At  Orange,  the  capital  of  the  little  principality  which  gave 
a  title  to  William  III.  of  England,  and  .to  his  still  more  illus- 
trious predecessor,  the  liberator  of  Holland,  the  Huguenots 
had  long  enjoyed  an  unusual  immunity  from  persecution  ;  but 
the  news  of  the  massacre  at  Vassy,  and  the  threatening  lan- 
guage of  their  orthodox  neighbors,  made  them  arm  in  self- 
defense.  This  but  accelerated  the  crisis;  the  Catholics  at- 
tacked the  city,  which,  after  a  stout  resistance,  was  captured, 
and  treated  as  a  fortress  taken  by  storm  (6th  May,  1562). 
Serbelloni,  who  commanded  the  pontifical  auxiliaries,  excited 
his  followers  to  their  bloody  work.  They  spared  neither  age 
nor  sex :  all  the  sick  in  the  hospital  were  killed,  some  being 
tossed  from  the  windows  on  the  spears  of  the  soldiers  below. 
Wonlen  were  hanged  to  the  balconies  of  houses,  and  made 
targets  to  be  shot  at.  But  this  was  the  least  of  the  atrocities 
they  had  to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  a  licentious  soldiery,  who 
often  took  pleasure  in  destroying  their  victims  by  the  most 
lingering  tortures  they  could  devise.*  When  Montbrun  cap- 
tured Mornas,  where  these  butchers  had  taken  refuge,  he 
put  them  all  to  death,  and  threw  their  bodies  into  the  river, 
having  stuck  on  them  a  notice  to  the  "  toll-keepers  of  Avign- 
on to  permit  the  ruffians  to  pass,  as  they  had  paid  the  toll 
already." 

On  the  25th  April,  1562,  the  Seigneur  de  la  Motte-Gondrin, 
who  was  governor  of  Dauphiny  in  the  absence  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  seized  the  gates  of  Valence;  but  his  force  was  not 
strong  enough  to  hold  the  city,  which  the  next  day  was  re- 
taken by  the  Huguenot  citizens,  aided  by  their  brethren  of 
Montelimart  and  other  places.  Gondrm  himself  was  attacked 
at  his  lodging,  and  the  rebels  having  set  fire  to  it  to  drive 
him  out,  he  and  all  his  party  were  slain.  Among  them  was 
the  provost  of  the  city,  upon  whom  was  found  a  missive  from 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  ordering  him  to  "  massacre  and  put  to 


*  Archives  cwieuses,  iii.  227;    Varillas:    Illst.    Charles   IX.  (Cologne, 
1684). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  235 

death  all  followers  of  the  Gospel  without  any  regard  to  age 
or  sex."* 

The  disturbances  at  Lyons  began  in  the  night  of  the  12th 
April,  when  the  Catholics,  "  without  any  provocation,"  rose 
in  several  parts  oi  the  city.  About  a  dozen  persons  were 
murdered,  and  among  them  a  woman,  who  fell  by  the  hand 
of  her  own  son.  The  governor,  De  Saulx,  called  in  reinforce- 
ments, while  the  Huguenots  were  strengthened  by  the  arrival 
of  two  hundred  men  from  the  surrounding  Protestant  towns. 
Both  parties,  watching  each  other,  kept  under  arms  for  a  fort- 
night, until  Wednesday  the  26th,  when  the  Protestants,  to 
the  number  of  1200,  assembled  in  their  temple,  and  after  in- 
voking the  blessing  of  God  upon  their  enterprise,  marched 
out,  occupied  the  Saone  bridge,  and  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  city.  Every  convent  was  broken  open,  every  friar  and 
nun  turned  out.f  In  this  tumult  only  three  persons  were  kill- 
ed, and  as  many  wTounded.  A  treaty  was  now  arranged  with 
the  Senate,  who  promised  to  assign  churches  to  the  Protest- 
ants. The  citizens  who  had  left  for  religion  were  permitted 
to  return,  the  mass  was  abolished,  liberty  of  conscience  pro- 
claimed, and  the  Senate  was  in  future  to  be  composed  of  twelve 
Protestant  and  as  many  Catholic  councilors.^;  But  the  Hu- 
guenots do  not  appear  to  have  kept  to  the  spirit  of  the  treaty, 
however  faithfully  they  may  have  adhered  to  the  letter.  They 
committed  devastations  that  would  have  disgraced  the  Van- 
dals. Churches  were  ravaged,  tombs  broken  open,  coffins 
stripped  of  their  lead  and  their  gold  or  silver  plates  ;  the  bells 
were  broken  up  and  the  basilica  of  the  Maccabees  destroyed 
by  gunpowder.  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  pri- 

*  Discours  de  ce  qui  a  etc  faict  es  villcs  de  Vallcnce  ct  Lyon.  1562.  •  A 
party  pamphlet  to  be  read  with  great  caution. 

t  In  one  of  these  convents  was  found  "La  machination  ecritc  et  signe"e 
faisant  roles  des  maisons  des  c'vangelistes  et  de  toutes  autrcs  personncs  (qni 
n'avaient  point  de  maison),  pour  les  mettrc  a  mort,  hommcs,  femmes  et  en- 
fants,  dans  le  4  da  dit  mois  de  Mai."  This  "  machination"  had  no  exist- 
ence but  in  tjie  imagination  of  the  writer. 

J  Pilot :  Occupation  de  Grenoble  par  les  Protestants, 


236  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

vate  plunder,  and  this  is  the  only  redeeming  feature  in  these 
riotous  scenes. 

The  flagrant  violations  of  the  January  edict  by  the  Catholics 
roused  the  Huguenots  of  La  Rochelle  to  assert  their  rights, 
and  accordingly  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  with 
much  solemnity — not  without  the  walls,  but  in  the  very  heart 
o±  the  city — in  the  Place  de  la  Bourserie,  on  the  31st  May. 
Armed  men  closed  every  avenue,  and  a  guard  of  forty  soldiers 
patrolled  the  adjacent  streets  to  prevent  violence.  About 
four  in  the  afternoon,  the  people,  excited  by  the  novelty  of  the 
spectacle  and  the  language  of  the  preachers,  rushed  to  the 
churches,  threw  down  the  altars,  and  burned  the  images.* 
The  Count  of  Jarnac  and  the  mayor,  who  were  both  Calvin- 
ists,  vehemently  but  ineffectually  condemned  such  violence,  and 
were  supported  by  the  ministers.  Some  priests  who  had  been 
shut  up  in  the  Lantern  Tower  were  stabbed  and  thrown  half 
dead  into  the  sea.  One  Stephen  Chamois,  a  Carmelite  monk, 
had  escaped  from  the  city  ;  but  being  recognized  at  Aunai  in 
Saintonge,  he  was  called  upon  to  abjure,  and,  on  his  refusing 
to  do  so,  was  murdered  on  the  spot. 

The  city  of  Toulouse  was  notorious  for  the  ferocity  of  its 
population — a  character  which  it  has  preserved  nearly  to  our 
own  day.  At  this  time  the  Protestant  inhabitants  were  esti- 
mated at  20,000  souls — a  manifest  exaggeration,  although  it 
was  one  of  the  most  populous  cities  of  France.  Their  num- 
ber was  certainly  numerous  enough  to  ensure  a  certain 
amount  of  toleration,  and  matters  went  on  quietly  until  the 
Pacification  of  Amboise.  When  the  Parliament  of  Toulouse 
received  the  edict,  with  instructions  to  see  it  properly  observed, 
they  protested  and  sent  a  deputation  to  the  king,  praying 
him,  in  case  the  edict  could  not  be  altered,  "  to  permit  them 
to  sell  their  property  and  go  elsewhere,  preferring  to  lose 
their  goods,  and  even  their  lives,  rather  than  their  faith." 

*  Arcere :  Hist,  de  la  VUle  de  Rochelle,  i.  p.  358  (4to.  Rochclle,  1 7.~>G) ; 
Vincent :  Recherche^  sw  les  commencements  de  Rochelle  :  "  La  maJadie  d'abat- 
tre  les  images  etnit  quasi  universelle." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  237 

Their  petition  had  received  no  answer,  when  in  the  month  of 
April  (1562)  a  disturbance  occurred  at  a  funeral.  Some  lives 
were  lost  and  the  murderers  were  punished.  The  excited 
Protestants  immediately  rose  and  seized  the  gates  and  the 
H6tel-de-Ville ;  and  the  parliament,  determined  to  crush  the 
insurrection  at  any  cost,  called  upon  the  populace  to  arm  in 
the  defense  of  religion  and  order.  They  rushed  like  beasts 
of  prey  upon  their  victims ;  they  filled  the  prisons,  tossed 
Huguenots  alive  out  of  the  windows  of  their  houses,  threw 
them  into  the  Garonne,  and  if  the  poor  wretches  tried  to 
crawl  out  of  the  water,  they  were  beaten  down  with  stones 
and  staves.  In  May  the  two  parties  came  to  an  arrangement 
by  which  the  Huguenots  agreed  to  leave  the  city  in  a  body ; 
but  they  were  not  to  escape  so  easily.  The  Catholic  peasants 
of  the  neighborhood  waylaid  the  smaller  and  unarmed  bodies, 
and  killed  between  3000  and  4000  of  them.  Thrice  the  king 
granted  an  amnesty  to  the  Protestant  citizens ;  thrice  the  par- 
liament refused  to  register  it,  and  continued  their  vindictive 
measures.* 

On  the  other  side  of  France  a  similar  voluntary  expatria- 
tion occurred.  The  inhabitants  of  Sisteron  left  their  city. 
For  twenty-two  days  a  crowd  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages 
wandered  through  the  wild  inhospitable  country  of  the  Upper 
Durance,  passing  the  night  in  remote  and  desert  valleys. 
Many  perished  by  the  swords  of  the  Catholics ;  many  died  of 
hunger  and  exhaustion;  the  remainder  at  last  entered  the 
friendly  walls  of  Grenoble,  singing  psalms  of  deliverance. 

At  Macon,  where  the  church  was  barely  two  years  old,  the 
Huguenots  made  themselves  masters  of  the  city,  which  was 
recovered  by  Tavannes  a  f ew  months  later  (19th  August,  1562). 
He  plundered  every  thing  on  which  he  could  lay  his  hand, 
and  is  reported  to  have  picked  up  enough  to  buy  an  estate  of 
10,000  livres  a  year.  His  wife,  who  was  equally  unscrupulous, 

*  One  George  Bosquet  wrote  a  justification  of  this  massacre  :  "  Huganeo- 
rum  lieret.  Tolosce  conjur.  profligatio  memorial  jiosita,"  which  was  condemned 
lij  the  council  as  a  defamatory  libel  (18th  June,  15C3). 


238  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

contrived  to  fill  one  hundred  and  eighty  trunks  with  linen, 
jewelry,  ornaments,  etc.  No  wonder  that,  after  such  an 
example,  men  of  high  rank  fomented  discord  and  cherished 
persecution.  St.  Point  was  appointed  governor.  lie  was  the 
son  of  a  priest,  and  "  thoroughly  bloody  and  more  than  cruel," 
said  Beza.  After  dinner,  when  the  ladies  went  out  to  walk, 
he  used  to  amuse  them  by  throwing  his  prisoners  off  the 
bridge  into  the  Saone,  jesting  at  their  struggles  to  save  their 
lives.  This  savage  sport  the  Catholics  named  "la  farce  de 
St.  Point ;"  but  it  is  better  known  in  history  as  the  "  sauteries," 
or  '•'  leaps  of  Macon."  The  governor  justified  these  cruelties 
as  being  mere  retaliation  for  similar  barbarities  committed  by 
Des  Adrets  at  Montbrison,  which  the  latter  in  his  turn  justi- 
fied by  the  outrages  at  Orange.  Thus  one  excess  leads  to 
another :  abyssus  abyssum  invocat. 

At  Limoux  in  Languedoc,  the  disturbances  were  so  many 
and  so  often  accompanied  by  loss  of  life  that  Marshal  de  Foix 
entered  the  town  to  enforce  the  law  (6th  June,  1562).  This 
he  effected  by  letting  his  soldiery  loose  upon  the  inhabitants 
without  distinction  of  religion.  One  Catholic,  dwelling  out- 
side the  walls,  had  his  eyes  plucked  out  and  his  nose  cut  off ; 
another  was  killed  as  he  left  mass,  and  his  body  thrown 
naked  into  the  road.  The  value  of  the  booty  acquired  by  the 
marshal  was  estimated  at  three  or  four  hundred  thousand 
livres.  At  Castelnaudary,  as  the  Catholics  were  walking  in 
procession  on  Palm  Sunday  (1562),  they  set  fire  to  a  mill 
in  which  the  Protestants  were  worshiping  outside  the  town, 
and  killed  all  who  tried  to  escape.  The  number  of  victims 
amounted  to  sixty,  among  whom  were  the  treasurer  of  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis,  three  municipal  councilors,  and  the  minister, 
whose  bowels  were  torn  out  and  burned  in  a  bonfire.  At 
St.  Calais  in  the  Vendomois  the  Protestants  put  a  garrison  in 
the  monastery,  which  was  like  a  fortress,  with  its  ditches, 
ramparts,  and  flanking  towers.  The  monks  called  for  help, 
and  one  day,  when  the  bell  rang  for  vespers,  they  headed 
their  allies  and  killed  thirty  of  the  Huguenots.  A  bloody 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  239 

retaliation  soon  followed  :  a  resolute  band,  collected  from  the 
surrounding  district,  stormed  the  abbey  and  put  to  death 
nearly  all  the  priests  and  monks  they  found  in  it.  At  Issou- 
dun  in  Berry  (Aug.,  1552),  the  soldiery  rebaptized  the  little 
Huguenot  children,  even  a  girl  of  thirteen  being  held  naked 
over  the  font.  One  Furet  was  about  to  be  hanged  without 
trial,  and  had  already  mounted  the  ladder,  when  the  king's 
advocate  suggested  that  it  would  be  well  to  go  through  some 
judicial  formality.  Accordingly  Furet  was  led  back  to  prison, 
confronted  with  witnesses,  condemned,  and  executed  within  an 
hour.  At  Roquebrun  two  Catholics  who  protested  against  the 
cruelties  there  perpetrated  had  their  eyes  plucked  out  by  order 
of  De  Brezons.  At  Aurillac  every  house  was  stripped  from 
roof  to  cellar.*  At  Auxerre,  a  street  riot  in  the  month  of 
August,  in  which  a  man  was  killed,  was  the  signal  for  a  rising. 
The  wrife  of  the  castellan  of  Avallon  was  stabbed  with  many 
daggers,  and  flung  into  the  river.  Being  young  and  strong,  she 
swam  for  some  time,  until  a  boatman  killed  her  with  an  oar. 
Her  body  was  then  drawn  ashore  and  exposed  to  unmention- 
able brutalities.  Two  months  later,  when  the  Protestants 
were  assembled  for  worship  at  a  pressoir  outside  the  town, 
they  were  attacked,  but  fortunately  escaped.  Their  houses, 
however,  were  pillaged  and  one  man  so  maltreated  that  he 
died  shortly  after.  Tavannes  was  sent  to  restore  order,  and 
he  hanged  three  Catholics,  but  by  way  of  compensation  inflict- 
ed a  similar  punishment  on  five  Huguenots.  At  Bar-sur-Seine, 
Ralet,  the  king's  proctor,  put  his  own  son  to  death  for  being 
found  among  the  Protestants.f  The  historian  who  reports 
this  adds  that  the  Catholics  cut  open  the  bodies  of  women 
and  children  to  eat  their  hearts.  These  and  other  abomina- 
tions which  he  records  are  probably  the  invention,  or  at  least 
the  exaggeration,  of  religious  party  spirit. 

*  Imberdis,  p.  3. 

t  Jean  Ac  Serves  (Scrranus)  adds  that  in  the  following  year,  15G3,  a 
troop  of  fifty  horse  surprised  the  town,  tied  Ralet  to  the  top  of  his  house, 
and  fired  at  him  until  they  killed  him  (p.  701). 


2-iO  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

In  the  little  town  of  Bellesme  a  man  was  hanged  for  declar- 
ing the  costume  of  the  Virgin  to  be  indecent,  and  another 
shot  because  he  would  not  go  to  vespers.  At  Epernay  in 
Champagne,  a  man  who  had  been  thrown  half  dead  into  the 
Marne,  was  revived  by  the  shock.  He  floated  down  the  river 
until  he  reached  a  sheltered  place,  where  he  got  out,  but  was 
followed,  caught,  and  drowned  in  a  deep  hole.  Some  of  the 
spectators,  who  were  Catholics,  could  not  restrain  their  tears, 
for  which  they  were  beaten  and  "left  for  dead.  Charles 
d'Argennes,  Bishop  of  Le  Mans,  who  had  been  expelled  by  the 
Huguenots,  raised  a  band  of  ruffians  who  plundered  the 
farm-houses  and  robbed  the  travelers  on  the  roads.  One  vic- 
tim was  hung  up  by  the  feet  after  his  eyes  were  plucked  out. 
The  bishop  hanged  two  hundred  persons,  some  of  whom 
were  very  young  boys,  and  two  madmen,  who  went  singing 
and  dancing  to  the  gallows.  A  woman  was  killed  and  her 
mouth  stuffed  with  leaves  torn  from  the  New  Testament. 
The  bishop's  lieutenant,  Boisjourdan,  distinguished  himself  by 
a  crime  without  parallel  even  in  that  cruel  age.  Two  children, 
whose  mother  had  been  put  to  death,  went  and  begged  him 
to  restore  part  of  her  confiscated  property  to  keep  them  from 
starvation.  He  received  them  kindly,  and  sat  them  clown  at 
table  to  dine  with  him.  At  a  given  signal  a  soldier  took  the 
boy,  a  lad  of  fourteen,  under  the  pretense  of  showing  him  his 
bed,  led  him  into  the  garden,  there  strangled  him,  and  threw 
the  body  into  a  pond.  He  then  fetched  the  sister,  who  went 
out  joyfully  to  meet  her  brother,  whose  fate  she  shared  after 
she  had  been  foully  abused.  For  such  atrocities  the  pope 
rewarded  Argennes  by  making  him  a  cardinal  in  1570. 

Similar  ferocities  were  alleged  against  the  Huguenots, 
many  of  which  are  unfortunately  too  true.  Thus  we  find  the 
people  of  Dieppe  (the  Rochelle  of  northern  France)  pillaging 
and  defacing  churches,  and  melting  down  the  sacred  vessels, 
from  which  they  collected  1200  pounds  of  silver.  In  bands 
of  200  and  300  they  made  forays  into  the  adjacent  districts 
— to  Eu  and  Arques — from  which  they  never  returned 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  241 

empty-handed.  We  read  of  their  dragging  priests  into  Di- 
eppe tied  to  their  horses'  tails  and  flogging  them  at  beat  of 
drum  in  the  market-place.  Some  were  thrown  into  the  sea 
in  their  sacerdotal  robes ;  some  were  fastened  to  a  cross  and 
dragged  through  the  streets  by  ropes  round  their  necks; 
and,  to  crown  all,  some  were  buried  in  the  ground  up  to  the 
shoulders,  while  the  Huguenots,  as  if  playing  a  game  of  nine- 
pins, flung  huge  wooden  balls  at  their  heads.* 

A  few  weeks  after  the  war  broke  out,  the  Protestants  of 
Bayeux  rose  against  the  clergy,  committing  the  customary 
devastations,  besides  violating  the  tombs  and  throwing  out 
the  mouldering  corpses.  They  gutted  the  bishop's  palace, 
and  made  a  bonfire  of  the  chapter  library,  then  the  richest  in 
all  France.  The  priests  and  others  who  opposed  them  were 
barbarously  murdered  and  tossed  from  the  walls  into  the 
ditch.  When  the  Duke  of  Etampes  restored  order,  the 
Catholics  took  a  terrible  revenge  on  their  former  persecutors. 
Once  more,  in  March  1565,  the  Huguenots  gamed  the  upper 
hand,  when  the  troops  under  Coligny  refused  to  be  bound  by 
the  terms  of  capitulation.  Private  houses  were  stripped  of 
all  the  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead  that  could  be  found; 
priests  who  resisted  were  flogged,  dragged  up  and  down  the 
streets  by  a  rope  at  their  necks,  and  then  killed.  Children 
were  murdered  in  their  mothers'  arms ;  one  Thomas  Noel,  a 
lawyer,  was  hanged  at  his  own  window;  and  an  unhappy 
woman  had  her  face  stained  with  the  blood  of  her  own 
son,  who  had  been  killed  before  her  eyes.  Here,  too,  more 
priests  were  buried  up  to  the  neck,  and  their  heads  made  to 
serve  as  targets  for  the  soldiers'  bullets ;  others  were  disem- 
boweled and  their  bodies  filled  with  straw.  The  priest  of 
St.  Ouen  —  we  shudder  as  we  record  such  horrors — was 
seized  by  four  soldiers,  who  "  larded  "  him  like  a  capon,  roast- 
ed him,  cut  him  up,  and  threw  the  flesh  to  the  dogs.f 

It  would  have  been  well  had  these  deeds  of  brutality  been 

*  Vitct :  Hist.  Dieppe,  p.  77.     (Paris,  1844.) 
t  De  Bras :  Antiquites  de  Caen,  p.  1 70. 

Q 


242  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

confined  to  Normandy ;  but  they  were  repeated  all  over 
France.  One  Friar  Viroleau  died  of  the  consequences  of  a 
barbarous  mutilation.  Other  priests  or  Catholic  people  were 
killed  by  hanging,  speared  to  death,  left  to  die  of  hunger, 
sawn  in  two,  or  burned  at  a  slow  fire.  All  this  happened 
in  Angouleme.  At  Montbrun  a  woman  was  burned  on  her 
legs  and  feet  with  red-hot  tongs.  The  lieutenant-general  of 
Angouleme  and  the  wife  of  the  lieutenant-criminal  of  that  city 
were  first  mutilated,  then  strangled,  and  their  corpses  dragged 
through  the  streets.  At  Chasseneuil  in  the  vicinity,  a  priest, 
one  Loys  Fayard,  was  shot  to  death  after  having  been  tor- 
tured by  having  his  hands  plunged  in  boiling  oil,  some  of 
which  had  been  poured  into  his  mouth.  The  vicar  of  St. 
Auzanni  was  mutilated,  shut  Tip  in  a  chest',  and  burned  to 
death.  In  the  parish  of  Rivieres  others  had  their  tongues 
cut  off,  their  feet  burned,  and  their  eyes  torn  out;  they  were 
hung  up  by  the  legs,  or  thrown  from  the  walls.  Other  atroc- 
ities were  committed  which  can  not  be  described  without 
offending  propriety.  One  Huguenot  is  said  to  have  gone 
about  with  a  chain  of  priests'  ears  around  his  neck.*  In 
1562  men  did  not  stop  to  ask  whether  these  things  were  true 
or  false ;  they  were  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  and  be- 
lieved, just  as  the  vulgar  even  now  believe  any  story,  how- 
ever wild  or  improbable,  that  falls  in  with  their  peculiar 
temper  or  prejudices.  The  Catholic  burned  with  indignation 
as  he  listened  to  the  story  of  these  outrages — sometimes  re- 
lated to  him  from  the  pulpit — outrages  against  the  men  and 
the  things  that  he  reverenced  most  upon  earth.  Blasphemy 
against  God  might  be  pardoned,  but  against  the  Virgin  Mary 

*  The  whole  of  this  frightful  catalogue  will  be  found  in  the  "  Theatre  ties 
cruautes  des  he'retiques  dc  notre  temps,  1588."  Reprinted  in  the  Archives 
curieuses  de  France  (Cimber  and  Danjou),  torn.  vi.  series  1.  p.  299.  See 
also  in  the  same  collection,  chap.  xiv.  of  the  Discours  sur  le  Saccagement  des 
£gllses,  etc.  en  1562,  by  Claude  de  Sainctes,  and  the  Vrai  Tocsain.  Wo 
must  not  accept  for  truth  all  recorded  by  this  writer,  but  after  the  most 
ample  deduction  from  his  narrative  there  remains  much  to  lament  and 
condemn. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  243 

— never  !  They  retaliated  immediately  upon  all  the  Hugue- 
nots within  their  power,  and  with  all  the  more  cruelty  and 
persistency  that  they  fervently  believed  they  were  doing  God 
a  sendee. 

But  these  are  scenes  too  disgusting  to  dwell  upon,  and  we 
gladly  turn  to  less  savage,  though  hardly  to  purer  scenes. 
The  hostility  between  the  two  sects  showed  itself  at  court  by 
quarrels  between  the  ladies,  the  Princess  of  Conde  and  the 
Duchess  of  Ferrara  heading  one  party,  and  thejyidowed  Duch- 
ess of  Guise  the  other.  The  queen-mother  tried  in  vain  to 
check  their  feminine  disputes.  The  Huguenot  ladies  would 
not  give  way.  Chantonnay  says  of  them :  "  They  do  little  else 
at  court  than  preach  sermons  and  sing  psalms.  Daily  prayers 
are  said  in  the  apartments  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  with  the 
help  of  all  who  have  the  will  and  the  ability  to  go  there." 

These  party  questions  were  momentarily  silenced  by  the 
necessity  of  getting  rid  of  the  foreign  garrison  which  still 
occupied  Havre.  The  Huguenots,  as  well  as  the  Catholics, 
were  pleased  at  the  opportunity  of  showing  their  prowess 
against  "  the  natural  enemy  of  France."  The  former,  aware 
of  the  great  blunder  they  had  committed  in  the  treaty  of 
Hampton  Court,  were  eager  to  drive  out  the  English,  who 
did  not  feel  the  slightest  inclination  to  depart.  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's policy  may  have  been  national,  but  it  was  very  shabby 
and  prejudicial  to  the  Huguenot  cause.  "We  are  resolutely 
determined  to  keep  Newhaven  [Havre],  except  they  will  re- 
solve to  restore  us  Calais,"  wrote  Cecil  on  Christmas  Day, 
1562.*  "When  he  heard  that  peace  had  been  made  at  Orleans 
"without  consideration  of  us,"  he  added  :  "  If  it  be  so,  I  know 
the  worst,  which  is,  by  stout  and  stiff  dealing,  to  make  our 
own  bargain."f  And  yet,  after  these  big  words,  the  English 
government  did  nothing,  though  the  governor  of  Havre  (the 
Earl  of  Warwick)  urgently  demanded  supplies  and  reinforce- 
ments, which  did  not  sail  until  the  place  had  capitulated. 

*  Wright's  Elizabeth,  i.  1 18.  t  Und.  i.  13 1 . . 


244  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEWC 

With  sanctimonious  resignation  Sir  E.  Warner  wrote  to 
Cecil :  "  The  loss  of  Newhaven  so  suddenly  and  in  such  sort, 
as  it  seemeth,  I  am  sorry  for  to  the  bottom  of  my  heart. 
But  against  God's  ordinance  no  man  can  stand."  The  garri- 
son had  suffered  terribly  from  the  plague,  which  they  brought 
with  them  to  England,  where  it  is  computed  to  have  killed 
20,000  persons  in  London  and  the  out-parishes. 

Conde,  who  had  fought  valiantly  at  Havre,  hoped  that  his 
services  to  the  monarchy  would  be  repaid  by  promotion  to  the 
office  of  Lieutenant-General  of  France,  vacant  by  the  death  of 
his  elder  brother,  Anthony  of  Navarre.  Catherine  had  held 
this  out  as  a  lure  without  the  remotest  intention  of  keeping 
her  promise.  She  probably  found  that  the  throne  would  be 
weakened  by  being  kept  longer  in  tutelage,  and  therefore, 
with  L'Hopital's  concurrence,  anticipated  the  young  king's 
majority  by  twelve  months,  ordering  it  to  be  declared  as 
soon  as  he  entered  his  fourteenth  year,  and  thus  obviated 
the  necessity  of  appointing  a  new  lieutenant-general.  The 
ceremony  took  place  at  Rouen,  it  being  feared  that  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris,  in  which  Conde  had  friends,  would  refuse 
to  register  the  edict  of  majority.  On  the  17th  August, 
1563,  Charles  went  down  to  the  courts  of  law  in  great  state, 
and  after  announcing  the  close  of  his  minority,  he  declared 
that  he  would  not  permit  the  repetition  of  such  acts  of  in- 
subordination as  he  had  witnessed  during  the  recent  hostili- 
ties, and  that  he  desired  the  Edict  of  Pacification  should  be 
kept  in  all  its  provisions. 

Charles  appears  at  this  time  to  have  been  an  amiable  youth : 
he  possessed  good  natural  qualities,  and  his  attempts  in  poetry 
(if  they  are  his  own)  are  not  entirely  unworthy  of  Marot,  to 
whom  they  are  addressed.  He  had  in  early  days  a  fair  taste 
for  literature,  and  had  he  continued  under  the  training  of 
Amyot  and  Cipierre,  he  might  have  been  worthy  of  the  throne. 
With  such  a  mother  as  Catherine,  and  such  tutors  as  she 
gave  him,  he  could  hardly  fail  to  become  treacherous  and 
cruel.  We  shall  see  at  times  his  better  nature  breaking 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  245 

through,  but  the  evil  spirit  within  him  was  never  thoroughly 
conquered. 

There  exists  a  curious  letter  written  about  this  time  by 
Catherine  to  her  son,  giving  him  instructions  as  to  the  con- 
duct of  his  life.*  He  is  exhorted  to  rise  early,  to  go  to  mass 
with  his  four  secretaries,  to  dine  not  later  than  eleven  o'clock, 
to  ride  or  walk  for  three  hours,  to  hunt,  to  read  his  letters 
every  day  and  see  that  they  are  punctually  answered,  and  to 
have  the  keys  of  the  palace  brought  to  him  eaj3h  night  and 
placed  under  his  pillow.  There  are  other  exhortations  of  a 
similar  nature — such  as  would  make  him  "  the  first  gentleman 
of  the  day,"  but  would  not  tend  to  make  him  a  good  Chris- 
tian. Had  she  wished  to  see  her  son  a  good  man,  Catherine 
would  have  given  .him  proper  tutors,  and  not  such  as  Gondi, 
whom  Brantome  describes  as  "  cunning,  corrupt,  false,  and 
blasphemous." 

The  termination  of  the  sittings  of  the  Council  of  Trent  (De- 
cember, 1563),  imported  another  element  of  confusion  into 
the  religious  differences  of  the  age.  The  council,  although 
summoned  in  1541,  did  not  actually  meet  until  December, 
1545.  It  had  been  hoped  that  some  means  would  be  found 
of  healing  the  divisions  in  the  Church,  but  one  after  another 
every  form  of  Protestant  opinion  was  eliminated  from  the 
new  creed,  and  reconciliation  became  impossible.  The  articles 
of  the  council  were  made  compulsory  in  every  Catholic  state ; 
but  the  Church  of  France  was  so  far  independent  that  the 
solemn  consent  of  the  crown  was  required  to  make  the  decrees 
valid.  They  might,  indeed,  be  received  as  articles  of  faith, 
but  could  not  be  pleaded  in  a  court  of  law  until  ratified  by  the 
sovereign.  To  procure  that  ratification,  the  King  of  Spain 
dispatched  an  embassador,  accompanied  by  a  deputation  from 
the  Dukes  of  Tuscany  and  Lorraine,  inviting  Charles  to  send 
commissioners  to  Nancy,  where  an  assembly  of  princes  was 

*  This  letter  was  partly  the  composition  of  L'Hopital,  and  was  written  by 
Montaigne,  the  essayist,  at  that  time  one  of  the  royal  secretaries. 


2-iG  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  meet  to  consult  on  the  best  measures  to  be  adopted  for  the 
extirpation  of  heresy.  L'Hopital,  foreseeing  the  deadly  con- 
.  sequences  of  such  a  step,  advised  the  queen-mother  to  receive 
the  embassy  and  deputation  very  politely,  detain  them  at  court 
as  long  as  possible,  and  dismiss  them  at  last  with  an  evasive 
answer.  "  The  government,"  says  Languet,  "  have  no  idea  of 
taking  away  the  liberty  granted  by  the  late  edict;  for  (to  omit 
other  reasons)  they  see  that  it  can  not  be  done  without  a  dis- 
turbance, as  our  churches  are  more  crowded  than  they  have 
ever  been."  *  Independently  of  this  consideration,  we  find 
Santa  Croce  writing  to  Cardinal  Borromeo  (12th  Oct.,  1564) 
an  account  of  an  interview  with  the  queen.  After  listening 
patiently  to  his  message  from  the  Holy  Father  relative  to  the 
introduction  of  the  Tridentine  decrees,  she  replied :  "  No  one 
can  feel  a  more  ardent  desire  for  the  observance  of  the  council 
than  myself ;  but  affairs  are  in  such  a  state  that  I  am  compelled 
to  handle  them  very  delicately,  and  it  is  impossible  to  issue 
any  fresh  edicts  just  now.  Whenever  circumstances  permit, 
I  will  do  as  his  Holiness  desires."  This  was  no  new  language. 
In  the  instructions  to  his  embassadors  at  the  council,  the  king 
declared  that  considering  the  number  of  the  heretics,  he  could 
not  attempt  to  put  down  the  new  religion  by  force,  without 
endangering  both  crown  and  state,  f 

*Langueti  Epist.  ii.  281,  (20th  January,  1564):  "  Se  enim  satis  exper- 
tnm  quantum  malorum  ...  Reginam  nihil  jam  minus  cogitare  quam.  .  ." 
t  Instructions  dated  1562,  in  Le  Plat,  v.  pp.  151,  155. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  247 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  MEETING  AT  BAYONNE  AND  THE  SECOND  WAR. 

[June,  1565-March,  1563.] 

>* 

The  Royal  progress — Bayonne  in  June — Identical  note — Amusements — Po- 
litical Deliberations — The  Queen  of  Navarre  Excommunicated — Cather- 
ine's Remonstrance — The  Pope  yields — State  of  Gascony — Assembly  of 
Notables  at  Moulins — Feud  between  Guise  and  Coligny — Montmorency 
and  the  Cardinal — Disturbed  state  of  Maine — Montluc  pacifies  Gascony — 
Embassy  from  Germany — Rebellion  in  Flanders — March  of  Alva — Conde' 
leaves  the  Court — Rumored  Plot — Huguenot  Meeting  at  Chatillon — War 
resolved  upon — Attempt  to  seize  Charles — Huguenot  Rising — Battle  of 
St.  Denis — Death  of  the  Constable — German  Auxiliaries — Michelade  of 
Nismes — Siege  of  Chartres — Peace  of  Longjumeau — Death  of  Coligny's 
Wife. 

Ix  order  to  test  the  state  of  public  feeling  and  apply  a  rem- 
edy to  the  great  disorders  of  the  realm,  the  queen-mother 
decided  upon  an  extensive  tour  through  the  south  and  west 
of  France,  which  would  give  her  an  opportunity  of  showing 
the  king  to  his  subjects  and  strengthening  him  in  their  affec- 
tions. It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  the  progress  of  the  court 
step  by  step ;  a  few  incidents,  however,  may  be  quoted  to 
show  the  intolerant  temper  of  the  Catholic  party.  In  many 
of  the  towns  of  Burgundy,  Charles  was  received  with  shouts 
of  "  Long  live  the  King !"  and  "  The  Mass  forever  !"  At 
Chalons  a  modal  was  struck,  representing  the  monarch  tram- 
pling on  Heresy,  depicted  as  a  Fury  pouring  out  torrents  of  fire. 
At  Lyons  the  foundations  were  laid  of  a  citadel  intended  to 
crush  the  heretical  tendencies  of  the  inhabitants.  The  walls 
of  several  Protestant  towns  were  demolished,  and  numerous 
addresses  were  presented  to  the  young  monarch,  praying  him 
to  interdict  the  exercise  of  any  form  of  religion  but  the 
Romish. 


248  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

In  the  middle  of  June,  1565,  the  court  reached  the  city  of 
Bayonne,  near  the  Spanish  frontier,  where  the  famous  meet- 
ing took  place  at  which  it  was  generally  supposed  the  extir- 
pation of  Protestantism  was  arranged.  As  early  as  April, 
1561,  Catherine  had  suggested  a  similar  meeting,  when  she 
was  agitated  by  the  fear  of  a  marriage  between  the  widowed 
Mary  Stuart  and  Don  Carlos.  She  pretended  a  great  desire 
to  discuss  with  Philip  II.  the  religious  condition  of  France 
and  the  affairs  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  hoping  by  such  an 
interview  to  thwart  the  Scottish  matrimonial  project.* 

The  ostensible  cause  of  the  meeting  four  years  later  was 
the  queen's  desire  to  see  her  daughter,  who  had  just  recov- 
ered from  a  severe  illness.  Political  motives  were  not  for- 
gotten, and  among  other  matters  to  be  considered  between 
the  sovereigns  of  France  and  Spain — for  Catherine  hoped 
that  Philip  would  accompany  his  wife — was  undoubtedly  the 
repression  of  heresy.  There  exists  among  the  state  papers 
at  Simancas  what  is  called  by  diplomatists  an  "identical 
note  "  of  the  subjects  to  be  discussed  at  Bayonne.  In  it  we 
read  that  the  two  powers  engaged  not  to  tolerate  the  Re- 
formed worship  in  their  respective  states,  that  the  canons  of 
the  Council  of  Trent  should  be  enforced,  that  all  noncon- 
formists should  be  incapacitated  for  any  public  office,  civil 
or  military,  and  that  heretics  should  quit  the  realm  within  a 
month,  permission  being  accorded  them  to  sell  their  property. 
Although  Catherine  gave  her  assent  to  these  declarations,  so 
far  as  the  discussion  of  them  was  concerned,  we  have  indis- 
putable evidence  that  she  did  not  intend  to  adopt  them  in 
the  same  sense  as  Philip  of  Spain,  for  at  this  very  time  she 
was  corresponding  with  the  Bishop  of  Rennes,  the  French 
embassador  to  the  imperial  court,  on  the  propriety  of  making 
concessions  to  the  Huguenots.  A  long  and  tedious  negotia- 
tion ensued  between  the  two  courts  of  France  and  Spain — a 
fencing-match  of  deceit — which  ended  in  an  arrangement 

*  See  a  remarkable  dispatch  on  this  subject  in  the  Rouen  Library,  Leber, 
Bundle  D,  No.  5725. 


MASSACEE  OP  ST.  BAETHOLOMEW.  249 

that  Isabella  should  go  to  meet  her  mother  and  brothers 
alone,  attended  by  the  Duke  of  Alva  as  embassador  extraor- 
dinary. Fernando  Alvarez  de  Toledo,  Duke  of  Alva,  had 
not  yet  attained  that  evil  eminence  which  has  linked  his 
name  with  all  that  is  blood-thirsty.  He  was  now  in  his  fifty- 
seventh  year,  and  the  most  successful  general  in  Europe. 
He  had  fleshed  his  maiden  sword  at  the  battle  of  Fontarabia, 
when  he  was  only  sixteen ;  had  served  under  the  emperor 
Charles  V.  in  Germany;  saved  the  Spanish  infantry  from 
destruction  at  the  siege  of  Metz ;  and,  as  viceroy  of  Naples, 
foiled  all  the  efforts  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  to  recover  the 
throne  of  that  country  for  France.  He  had  accompanied 
Philip  II.  to  England  during  that  monarch's  brief  matrimo- 
nial expedition,  and  afterward  waged  a  fruitless  war  in  Italy 
against  Francis  of  Guise  and  the  pope.  As  a  statesman  he 
possessed  great  capacity,  although  at  Bayonne  he  entirely 
failed  in  the  chief  object  of  his  mission.* 

The  mother  and  daughter  first  met  at  Irun  on  the  banks 
of  the  Bidassoa,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Bayonne,  where 
the  French  court  had  taken  up  its  qiiarters.  The  magnifi- 
cence of  the  processions  and  fetes  in  that  remote  corner  of 
France  put  to  shame  all  modern  attempts  of  a  similar  kind. 
Isabella  entered  Bayonne  riding  on  a  milk-white  palfrey, 
whose  trappings  of  velvet,  silver,  and  pearls  were  estimated 
at  25,000  ducats. f  Four  of  the  principal  citizens  bore  a  can^ 
opy  of  crimson  velvet  over  her  head,  as  she  rode  from  the  gate 
to  the  cathedral  through  streets  hung  with  arras ;  and  as  the 
day  was  drawing  to  a  close,  every  house  and  church  was 
illuminated,  and  each  member  of  the  cortege  bore  a  lighted 
torch.  A  Te  Dcum,  "accompanied  by  excellent  cornets," 
was  sung  by  choristers  from  the  chapel-royal  of  the  Louvre, 
Cardinals  Guise  and  Strozzi  officiating  with  a  number  of 
French  and  Spanish  bishops.  The  weather  was  sd  intensely 

*  A  portrait  of  Alva,  by  Titian,  is  at  Warwick  Castle. 
t  Sec  Freer:  Elizabeth  de  Valois,  ii.  ch.  2.     In  this  chapter  we  prefer  to 
call  the  queen  by  her  Spanish  name,  Isabella. 


250  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

hot  that  six  soldiers  of  the  queen's  escort  fell  dead,  the  vic- 
tims of  sun-stroke.*  Other  casualties  of  a  similar  nature 
occurring  in  the  small  and  crowded  city,  a  proclamation  was 
issued  ordering  that  all  the  sick,  aged,  and  infirm  should 
seek  shelter  in  certain  villages  specified,  at  a  distance  from 
Bayonne.f 

Some  years  later,  when  Walsingham  referred  to  this  meet- 
ing as  the  origin  of  a  "  general  league  "  against  the  Protest- 
ants, Catherine  affirmed  that  it  "  tended  to  no  other  end  but  to 
make  good  cheer."  J  And  so  it  would  seem,  for  ftte  follow- 
ed fete  in  rapid  succession,  the  political  business  being  trans- 
acted at  odd  moments,  after  those  more  serious  occupations  of 
the  day  were  ended. 

One  day  there  was  a  grand  tilting-match,  the  prize  being  a 
valuable  •  diamond  given  by  Isabella.  Charles  IX.  and  his 
brother  of  Anjou  headed  one  band  of  noble  tilters,  all  array- 
ed in  fancy  costumes ;  another  band  was  led  by  the  Duke  of 
Nemours,  while  the  horsemen  composing  that  following  the 
Duke  of  Longueville  were  dressed  in  cloth  of  gold  with  wings  of 
silver  tissue,  so  as  to  imitate  butterflies.  On  the  evening  of 
another  day  a  masque  was  performed  in  a  large  hall  construct- 
ed for  the  purpose.  The  scene  represented  a  giant's  castle, 
where  a  number  of  beautiful  maidens  were  imprisoned  in  an 
enchanted  chamber.  The  entrance,  defended  by  a  revolving 
wheel  and  guarded  by  six  frightful  demons,  was  attacked  by 
a  troop  of  French  and  Spanish  gentlemen  headed  by  Charles 
IX.,  who,  after  several  unsuccessful  assaults,  overcame  every 
obstacle,  killing  the  giant,  routing  the  demons,  and  delivering 
the  imprisoned  damsels,  whom  he  led  as  witnesses  of  his 
prowess  to  the  feet  of  his  sister  Isabella. 


*  Per  il  gran  caldo.     Li  Grandlssiml  Apparati,  etc.     Padbva,  1565. 

f  Walsingham  to  Smith,  14th  September,  1572.  Digges :  Compleat  Am- 
basitador,  p.  241. 

t  The  attendants  of  the  court  were  so  numerous,  that  they  could  not  be 
accommodated  in  the  town,  but  had  to  lodge  in  the  adjacent  villages  or  live 
in  tents  pitched  in  the  surrounding  fields. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  251 

A  pageant  of  a  more  elaborate  description  followed  the 
next  day.  It  began  Avith  a  romantic  prologue.  A  herald  pre- 
sented himself  at  Charles's  apartments  in  the  castle,  and  hav- 
ing been  led  into  the  king's  presence,  he  related  how,  during  a 
recent  journey,  he  had  fallen  in  with  a  gallant  company  of 
knights,  who,  unable  to  decide  on  the  superiority  of  LOVE  or 
VIRTUE,  had  agreed  to  refer  the  difference  to  the  arbitration 
of  his  Majesty  of  France.  A  deputation  from  the  supporters 
of  each  opinion  was  waiting  below,  desirous  to  plead  their 
cause.  The  knights  were  admitted,  they  made  their  speeches  ; 
but  the  matter  in  dispute  was  so  knotty  that  Charles  declared 
it  could  only  be  settled  by  arms.  A  tournament  was  pro- 
claimed, and  all  proceeded  to  the  lists,  the  two  queens  taking 
their  seats  in  a  gallery  hung  wdth  velvet.  And  now  the  pa- 
geant began.  First  came  VIRTUE,  seated  on  a  rock,  and  at- 
tended by  six  nymphs.  She  wore  an  azure  robe,  and  carried 
a  lighted  torch  in  her  hand.  After  making  the  circuit  of  the 
arena,  the  car  stopped  before  Queen  Isabella,  when  VIRTUE, 
reciting  some  appropriate  verses,  presented  her  and  each  of 
her  ladies  with  a  massive  gold  chain.  As  soon  as  the  goddess 
had  retired,  LOVE  entered  the  lists  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  four 
piebald  horses.  He  too  halted  before  the  Queen  of  Spain  and 
sang  some  verses  in  praise  of  the  joys  and  triumphs  of  love. 
The  tournament  now  commenced,  Charles  maintaining  the 
cause  of  VIRTUE,  the  Duke  of  Anjou  that  of  LOVE.  The  two 
troops  first  engaged  hand  to  hand,  the  king  and  his  brother 
breaking  a  lance  together.  Then  they  divided  into  fours,  un- 
til at  last  the  mSlee  became  general.  At  the  end  of  about  half 
an  hour,  the  trumpets  sounded,  the  combatants  retired  to  their 
own  side  of  the  list,  and  Charles  and  the  duke,  riding  for- 
ward, embraced  each  other,  to  show  "  that,  VIRTUE  and  LOVE 
being  brother  and  sister,  the  triumph  of  each  was  the  glory  of 
the  other." 

On  another  occasion,  Isabella  was  entertained  at  a  rural  fete, 
where  the  collation  was  spread  under  the  leafy  branches  of 
an  oak-tree,  from  whose  root  issued  a  fountain,  the  construe- 


252  MASSACRE  -OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

tion  of  which  cost  a  sum  equivalent  to  £400  sterling.  An- 
other day  the  pageant  took  the  singular  form  of  a  whale  fish- 
ery. A  turtle,  on  which  sat  six  Tritons,  floated  down  the 
Adour ;  then  came  Neptune  in  a  car  drawn  by  sea-horses,  with 
Arion  on  a  dolphin.  When  the  company  landed,  there  follow- 
ed a  pastoral  ballet,  in  which  the  dancing  of  the  French  ladies 
and  gentlemen  so  delighted  the  Spaniards  that  it  was  repeat- 
ed again  and  again  until  midnight.* 

One  of  the  masques  given  at  Bayonne  is  remarkable  for  the 
curious  picture  it  presents  of  a  "  wild  Scotchman."  After  the 
Prince-dauphin  of  Auvergne  and  his  train  of  six  gentlemen,  all 
dressed  like  women,  had  filed  off,  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  an- 
other six  followed,  all  dressed  "  a  1'ecossais  sauvage."  Over 
a  white  satin  shirt  embroidered  with  gold  lace  and  crimson 
silk,  they  wore  a  casaquin  of  yellow  velvet  with  short  skirts 
closely  plaited  "  according  to  the  custom  of  the  savages  " — it 
appears  to  have  been  a  kilt — trimmed  with  a  border  of  crim- 
son satin,  and  ornamented  with  gold,  silver,  pearls,  and  other 
jewels  of  various  colors.  Their  yellow  satin  hose  was  similar- 
ly adorned,  and  their  silk  boots  were  trimmed  with  silver  fringe 
and  rosettes.  On  their  .heads  they  wore  a  cap  d  V antique  of 
cloth  of  gold,  and  for  crest  a  thunder-bolt  pouring  out  a  fra- 
grant jet  of  perfumed  fire — the  said  thunder-bolt  being  twined 
round  by  a  serpent  reposing  on  a  pillow  of  green  and  satin. 
Each  cavalier  wore  on  his  arm  a  Scotch  shield  or  targe  cover- 
ed with  cloth  of  gold  and  bearing  a  device.  The  horses'  trap- 
pings were  of  crimson  satin  with  plumes  of  yellow,  white,  and 
carnation.  So  much  for  the  Frenchman's  ideal  of  a  Scotch- 
man !  The  suite  of  the  Duke  of  Longueville  was  still  more 
extraordinary :  it  consisted  of  six  winged  demons  whose  head- 
dresses were  all  flames  of  fire.f 

*  Abel  Jouan  :  Voyage  de  Charles  IX.,  printed  by  Baschi,  Baron  d'Aubais, 
in  his  Pieces  fugitives  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire  de  France.  4to.  Paris,  1759. 
See  also  M&m.  de  Marguerite. 

t  Reeueil  des  chases  notables  qui  ont  est^  f sites  a  Bayonne,  etc.  8vo.  Paris, 
1566 ;  Li  Grandissimi  Apparati  e  Reali,  Trionfi  fatti  nella  citta  di  Baiona. 
8vo.  Padova,  15G5. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BAKTHOLOMEW.  253 

While  the  younger  and  fairer  portion  of  the  court  were  in- 
dulging in  these  gayeties,  Catherine  and  Alva  did  not  entirely 
forget  more  important  matters,  though  the  queen-mother 
seems  to  have  put  them  off  as  long  as  possible.  She  would 
probably  have  evaded  them  altogether  had  not  Cardinal  Gran- 
velle  urged  his  royal  mistress  to  take  the  initiative.  At  a  pri- 
vate interview,  on  the  1 9th  June,  Isabella  urged  her  mother  to 
make  known  the  important  business  which  she  had  declared 
could  only  be  told  to  Philip  or  to  herself.  Catherine  replied : 
"  It  would  be  useless  to  do  so,  for  I  have  been  informed  that 
his  Catholic  majesty  shows  such  signs  of  distrust  toward  me 
and  my  son  as  must  inevitably  lead  to  war  ere  long."  As  this 
was  shifting  the  ground,  and  Isabella  could  not  get  her  moth- 
er to  talk  of  any  thing  else,  she  ended  the  interview  by  saying : 
"  Your  majesty  must  excuse  me.  As  the  king  my  husband 
has  not  commanded  me  to  take  an  active  share  in  the  negotia- 
tions, I  must  refer  you,  madam,  to  the  embassadors."  At  a 
second  meeting,  two  days  later,  Alva  was  present  when  the 
closer  union  of  the  royal  houses  of  France  and  Spain  by  the 
marriage  of  Margaret  of  Valois  to  Don  Carlos  was  advocated 
by  the  queen-mother,  as  "  the  best  means  of  healing  the  differ- 
ences everywhere  prevailing,  and  also  of  placing  the  affairs  of 
religion  on  a  stable  foundation."  In  his  account  of  this  inter- 
view, Don  Francisco  of  Alava  wrote  to  his  royal  master: 
"  Never  was  princess  in  greater  embarrassment  than  this  queen. 
One  person  advises  her  majesty  to  act  this  way,  another  quite 
the  contrary ;  and  she  herself  dar^s  not  decide  nor  even  evince 
a  preference.  .  .  .  The  principal  Roman  Catholics  of  this 
court  show  much  zeal,  but  they  are  men  of  words  more  than 
of  deeds."  In  the  evening  of  the  23d,  Alva  was  again  sum- 
moned to  the  queen's  presence ;  he  found  her  walking  alone 
with  her  daughter  in  a  long  gallery.  Isabella  pressed  her  to 
dismiss  L'Hopital,  the  chancellor :  "  I  am  persuaded,"  she  con- 
tinued, "  that  so  long  as  he  is  maintained  in  his  present  post, 
your  good  subjects  alone  will  have  reason  to  dread  and  fear, 
while  the  bad  will  find  shelter  and  countenance."  To  which 


254:  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Catherine  replied  :  "  I  can  not  admit  the  truth  of  my  daugh- 
ter's observations."  Alva,  to  excuse  her,  added  :  "  The  queen 
my  mistress  has  only  pressed  your  majesty  thus  hardly  because 
the  king  my  master  wishes  to  ascertain  positively  from  your 
majesty  and  the  king  your  son  whether  it  is  the  intention  of 
your  majesties  to  put  down  heresy  or  not,  as  in  either  case  my 
master  will  know  how  to  govern  his  conduct."  To  this  Cath- 
erine replied,  with  no  little  haughtiness :  "  The  council  will 
give  the  reply  demanded  by  my  son  the  Catholic  king." 

The  last  conference  was  held  on  the  28th  June,  and  at  it 
were  present  the  king  and  the  two  queens,  Anjou,  Alva,  Don 
Juan  Manrique,  Don  Francisco  Alava,  Montpensier,  the  Car- 
dinals of  Bourbon,  Guise,  and  Lorraine,  and  the  Constable 
Montmorency.  After  some  remarks  about  accepting  the  can- 
ons of  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  discussion  turned  on  the 
best  mode  of  settling  the  religious  differences.  The  Duke  of 
Alva  said :  "  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  not  the  'moment 
to  root  out  the  evil  with  the  sword,  or  to  treat  it  merely 
with  mildness  and  dissimulation ;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  my 
master  can  hardly  approve  that  your  majesty  should  raise  an 
army  and  lead  it  against  your  own  subjects,  and,  on  the  other, 
there  seems  no  sufficient  reason  for  leaving  those  unpunished 
who  are  too  audacious.  I  would  not  set  religion  on  the  un- 
certain footing  of  the  chances  of  a  war,  in  which  one  evil  acci- 
dent may  throw  all  into  the  greatest  danger.  .  .  .  Some 
persons,  as  I  have  been  told,  have  advised  your  majesty  to 
take  up  arms  against  those  of  the  religion.  I  have  not  come 
to  France  to  do  it  so  bad  a  service,  nor  would  the  king  my 
master  have  sent  me  for  such  a  purpose."*  Cardinal  Gran- 
velle  was  of  the  same  opinion;  there  were  safer  ways  of  get- 
ting rid  of  troublesome  enemies  than  by  war :  the  government 
had  only  to  seize  five  or  six  of  the  chief  Huguenots  and  cut  off 
their  heads.f  That  the  King  of  Spain  entertained  similar 


*  Tlaumer:  Illustrations,  i.  p.  121. 

t  lyapiers  (T£tat  do  Granrelle,  ix.  p.  298.     4to.  Paris,  1852,  ed.  Weiss. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  255 

views  we  learn  from  his  remarks  to  Sigismond  Cavalli,  the 
Venetian  embassador,  that  the  French  troubles  were  owing  to 
the  neglect  of  the  advice  he  had  given  them  years  before.* 
Neither  Charles  nor  Catherine  would  make  any  promises; 
they  thought  the  state  of  France  was  satisfactory,  but  would 
willingly  listen  to  any  suggestions  and  deliberate  very  careful- 
ly upon  them.  For  one  incident  of  the  conference  we  are  in- 
debted to  Prince  Henry  of  Navarre,  who  was  allowed  to  vis- 
it Bayonne,  because,  said  Philip,  "he  is  still  a  child,  whom 
God  will  not  allow  to  remain  in  ignorance."  One  day  when 
the  Duke  of  Alva  and  Catherine  were  conversing  together, 
the  former,  putting  Tarquin's  gesture  into  words,  advised  her 
to  get  rid  of  the  Huguenot  nobles,  after  which  all  would  be 
easy  work :  "  Ten  thousand  frogs,"  he  said,  "  are  not  worth  the 
head  of  one  salmon."f  Henry  overheard  him,  and  the  words 
struck  him  so  much  that  he  repeated  them  to  Soffrey  de  Ca- 
lignon,  one  of  his  attendants,  by  whom  they  were  transmitted 
to  the  Queen  of  Navarre.  They  soon  became  known  to  the 
Huguenot  leaders,  and  aroused  a  suspicion,  which  it  would 
have  been  well  for  them  had  they  never  laid  aside.  The 
words  produced  a  deep  impression  upon  Catherine,  and  more 
than  once  she  tried  to  act  upon  them,  until  at  last  she  succeed- 
ed but  too  well.  Giovanni  Correro,  the  Venetian  envoy,  writ- 
ing to  his  government  in  1569,  gives  us  a  little  insight  into 
the  queen-mother's  opinions  about  this  time.  Being  one  day 
in  a  confidential  mood,  she  said  to  her  fellow-countryman : 
"  While  at  Carcassone,  on  my  way  back  from  Bayonne,  I  read 
a  manuscript  chronicle  about  the  mother  of  St.  Louis,  a  boy 
only  eleven  years  old.  She  had  to  contend  against  malcontent 
nobles,  but  with  time  the  king  grew  up  and  crushed  his  ene- 
mies beneath  the  vengeance  they  had  drawn  upon  themselves. 

*  "Che  a  loro  sono  occorse  qucsti  mine  per  non  aver  voluto  creder  c  far 
quello  die  lui  piu  di  8  anni  li  avviso,"  etc.  7th  May,  1568. 

t  Davila  gives  the  same  idea  in  different  words :  lib.  iii.  Mathien  (Hist. 
France,  i.  283)  says  his  authority  was  Calignon,  a  Catholic,  whose  Memoirs 
were  published  by  Gomberville  in  his  Supplement  to  the  Memoirs  of  Se 


256  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

I  applied  the  case  to  myself."  Correro  observed :  "  Your 
majesty  must  have  found  comfort  therein,  for  as  the  present 
is  an  image  of  the  past,  so  you  may  be  sure  the  end  will  not 
be  unlike."  At  this  the  queen  began  to  laugh,  as  was  her  cus- 
tom when  she  heard  any  thing  that  pleased  her,  and  replied  : 
"  But  I  should  not  like  any  body  to  know  that  I  have  read 
that  chronicle,  for  they  would  say  that  I  am  taking  Queen 
Blanche  of  Castile  for  my  pattern."  *  It  was  not  likely  this 
precedent  would  be  forgotten  when  opportunity  served. 

It  is  certain  that  nothing  was  settled  at  theBayonne  meet- 
ing, Catherine  being  steadfast  in  her  purpose  to  maintain  her 
power  by  holding  the  balance  between  the  two  hostile  parties. 
"She  has  promised  to  do  wonders,"  wrote  Granvelle  (20th 
August,  1565),  "  but  will  do  nothing  of  any  service."  The 
king,  young  as  he  was,  proved  equally  immovable.  "  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  he  has  been  tutored,"  wrote  Alva  contemptuously 
to  his  master.  And  thus  terminated  the  interview  from  which 
so  .much  had  been  expected.f  It  left,  however,  a  very  bitter 
feeling  among  the  Huguenots,  who  believed  that  some  devilish 
plot  had  been  contrived  against  them,  and  tended  to  alienate 
them  from  the  crown,  although  they  still  professed  great  loy- 
alty to  the  king,  not  confounding  him  with  the  government,  as 
the  Parliamentarians  expressed  their  devotion  to  Charles  I. 

As  soon  as  Isabella  had  recrossed  the  Spanish  frontier,  the 
French  court  proceeded  to  Nerac  in  Gascony  to  visit  Joan,  the 
widowed  Queen  of  Navarre.  "When  her  husband  apostatized, 
he  would  have  made  her  apostatize  also ;  but  she  refused,  and 


*  Baschet :  La  Diplomatic  Venitienne,  p.  522.     Paris,  18G2. 

t  It  is  clear  from  Alva's  letters  first  published  in  the  Papiers  d'Etat  dit 
Cardinal  Granvelle,  ix.  pp.  281-330,  that  the  general  belief  in  a  league  to 
exterminate  the  Huguenots  is  erroneous,  although  Adrian!  (Storia  Fiorent^) 
says  expressly  that  Catherine  had  agreed  upon  what  they  called  "Sicilian 
Vespers,"  and  that  the  king  was  to  retire  to  the  strong  castle  of  Moulins  in 
the  Bourbonnais,  where  he  would  be  safe.  But  Adriani  is  the  only  person 
who  ever  saw  the  MSS.  in  which  he  professed  to  read  this.  De  Thou  evi- 
dently did  not  believe  the  story  (ii.  377,  scribunt  is  his  word)  ;  and  Castelnau 
(liv.  vi.  ch.  1)  implies  as  much. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  257 

took  refuge  in  Beam.  Anthony  ordered  Montluc  to  stop  her 
and  keep  her  prisoner — a  danger  she  happily  escaped,  as  also 
a  conspiracy  entered  into  by  some  of  her  Catholic  subjects  to 
seize  and  deliver  her  to  the  King  of  Spain.  Joan  abolished 
popery  in  her  hereditary  states,  and  confiscated  the  church 
property  for  the  benefit  of  the  new  clergy  and  of  education. 
For  this  the  pope  summoned  her  to  appear  at  Rome  to  an- 
swer a  charge  of  heresy,  on  pain  of  being  excommunicated 
and  deprived  of  her  territories  (1564).*  In  this  Pius  IV. 
overshot  the  mark  :  his  proceedings  endangered  every  crowned 
head  in  Europe.  He  had  also  about  the  same  time  issued  a 
citation  against  the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon,f  the  Bishop  of  Va- 
lence, and  four  other  prelates.  The  papal  citation  being  a 
gross  infringement  of  the  privileges  of  the  Gallican  Church, 
a  special  embassador  was  sent  to  Rome  to  remonstrate  with 
the  Holy  Father,  and  the  opinions  of  the  government  may  be 
gathered  from  a  letter  written  by  the  queen-mother  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rennes,  her  embassador  in  Germany :  "  We  ac- 
knowledge no  authority  or  jurisdiction  on  the  pope's  part 
over  those  who  bear  the  title  of  king  or  queen,  and  that  it  is 
not  for  him  to  give  away  states  and  kingdoms  to  the  first  con- 
queror ....  Let  me  know  how  the  emperor  takes  this 
matter,  for  it  concerns  all  rulers  to  understand  whether  it  is 
for  the  pope  at  his  own  pleasure  to  assume  authority  and  ju- 
risdiction over  them,  and  to  make  a  prey  of  their  territories 
and  dominions.  We  for  our  part  are  determined  never  to 
submit  to  it."  The  pope  retreated :  the  citations  against  the 
bishops  were  abandoned,  the  bull  against  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre was  revoked.  But  a  more  formidable  danger  than  this 
threatened  Joan  not  long  after,  Philip  II.  having  concerted  a 


*  Monitorium  ct  Citatio  in  Mtm.  de  Cond£.  4to.  1743.  The  French  pro- 
test and  remonstrance  are  in  the  same  collection.  A  remarkable  memoir 
by  Bapt.  Dumesnil  is  given  in  Bouchel :  Bibl.  du  Droit  Frany.  p.  549 ;  and 
I'reuves  des  lib  Erjl.  Gall.  chap.  iv.  No.  27. 

t  The  cardinal  had  occasioned  great  scandal  by  taking  a  wife  and  calling 
her  Countess  of  Beauvais,  after  his  diocese. 

R 


258  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

plan  with  Montluc  to  seize  her  and  her  two  children,  and  car- 
ry them  to  Spain,  where  they  would  be  committed  to  the  cru- 
el mercies  of  the  Inquisition.  Treatment  like  this  confirmed 
the  queen  in  her  faith ;  she  swept  her  dominions  of  every  ves- 
tige of  Romanism,  and  denied  to  her  Catholic  subjects  that  re- 
ligious liberty  which  she  claimed  for  her  co-religionists  in 
France. 

In  some  respects  the  province  of  Gascony,  through  which  the 
court  was  now  traveling,  had  suffered  more  than  any  part  of 
France  from  the  effects  of  the  war.  The  Protestants  bad- 
succeeded  in  putting  down  Romanism,  and  at  every  step  he 
took  Charles  was  reminded  of  the  outrages  offered  to  his 
religion  ;  he  restored  the  old  form  of  worship,  but  the  scenes 
he  then  witnessed  appear  never  to  have  been  forgotten.  As 
he  rode  along  by  the  side  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  who  ac- 
companied him  to  Blois,  he  pointed  to  the  ruined  monasteries, 
the  broken  crosses,  the  polluted  churches ;  he  showed  her 
the  mutilated  images  of  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  the  dese- 
crated grave-yards,  the  relics  scattered  to  the  winds  of  heaven. 
The  impression  of  that  day's  ride  long  haunted  the  Protest- 
ant queen  and  filled  her  with  a  distrust  of  the  king  and  his 
mother  which  she  never  entirely  shook  off. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  the  king  summoned  an  assembly  of 
Notables  to  meet  at  Moulins  for  the  purpose  of  remedying 
many  grievances  that  had  become  known  during  the  recent 
progress,  and  also  of  reconciling  the  chiefs  of  the  rival  fac- 
tions. The  ambiguities  of  the  Edict  of  Amboise  and  the  ob- 
stacles to  carrying  it  out  fully  in  many  places  had  already 
called  forth  several  interpretative  edicts,  one  of  which  had 
been  published  at  Roussillon  in  Dauphiny  (August,  1564),  re- 
straining the  hitherto  unlimited  freedom  of  worship  in  pri- 
vate dwellings.  The  nobles  were  to  admit  to  their  chapels 
none  but  members  of  their  household  or  their  vassals;  no 
synods  were  to  be  held  or  collections  made  in  the  temples ; 
and  the  pastors  were  forbidden  to  open  schools  or  preach  out 
of  their  districts.  It  farther  renewed  the  injunction  for  the 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  259 

married  priests  and  nuns  to  return  to  their  cloisters  or  leave 
the  kingdom — the  latter  alternative  being  generally  preferred. 
Moulins  in  the  Bourbonnais  is  one  of  the  neatest  and 
prettiest  towns  in  France.  Of  the  magnificent  castle  where 
Charles  and  Catherine  de  Medicis  sat  in  council  very  little 
remains  save  a  fragment  of  a  tower,  strangely  named  Malcoif- 
fec,  which  rises  high  above  the  brick  buildings,  and  a  small 
pavilion  built  by  the  queen-mother.  Beside  the  banks  of  the 
smiling  Allier,  and  in  those  irregular  streets  where  many  a 
house  of  variegated  brick,  red  a/id  white,  still  dates  back  be- 
yond this  period,  were  crowded  the  princes  of  the  blood,  sev- 
eral cardinals  and  bishops,  the  chief  nobility,  and  the  principal 
officers  of  the  parliaments  of  France.  The  resolutions  they 
adopted  were  merely  administrative,  reforming  many  judicial 
abuses,  but  they  remained  a  landmark  in  French  jurispru- 
dence until  all  law  was  swept  away  in  the  great  Revolution. 
But  law  reform  was  merely  a  secondary  object  with  Cather- 
ine. With  eveiy  motive  for  desiring  a  continuance  of  peace, 
she  saw  that  this  was  impossible  unless  the  hostile  leaders 
would  agree  to  lay  aside  their  private  feuds  and  become 
friends.  Between  the  Guises  and  Coligny  there  could  be  no 
amity,  so  long  as  they  held  him  to  be  the  instigator  of  the 
late  duke's  murder.  At  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  Amboise, 
the  Prince  of  Conde  had  come  forward  as  a  compurgator — 
to  adopt  a  well-known  Anglo-Saxon  term — and  taken  oath 
that  Coligny  was  innocent.  The  family  were  still  dissatisfied. 
One  day  a  funeral  procession  was  seen  in  the  streets  of  Meu- 
lan,*  where  the  court  then  resided.  It  was  Antoinette  of 
Bourbon,  mother  of  the  murdered  duke,  and  Anne  of  Este, 
his  wife,  accompanied  by  her  four  children,  and  attended  by 
their  friends  and  partisans,  who  in  long  mourning  robes  and 
with  veiled  faces  were  going  to  the  king  to  sue  for  justice. 
In  gloomy  silence,  broken  only  by  their  sobs,  the  two  ladies 

*  Some  authorities  give  "  Paris,"  for  even  in  a  matter  which  ought  to  be 
well  known  do  the  contemporary  accounts  differ. 


260  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

entered  the  palace  and  fell  at  the  king's  feet,  demanding  jus- 
tice. Charles  raised  them  graciously  and  promised  what 
they  asked.  Their  case  was  laid  before  the  Parliament  of 
Paris,  from  which  it  was  transferred  to  the  privy-council, 
with  the  injunction  that  no  farther  steps  should  be  taken 
within  three  years.  Various  attempts  at  reconciliation  were 
made  during  the  interval,  and  as  this  blood-feud  had  indispu- 
tably very  much  to  do  with  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
it  may  not  be  a  waste  of  time  to  show  the  progress  of  the 
quarrel.  In  December,  1563,  Morvilliers,  Bishop  of  Orleans, 
wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Rennes,  embassador  to  the  emperor  : 
"  One  would  willingly  find  a  way  of  arrangement  between 
them  ;  but  the  means  are  very  difficult  considering  the  offense 
and  the  particulars  of  the  feud.  It  is  impossible  but  at  last 
this  should  burst  (crbve)  under  some  dagger  (coustel),  and 
that  the  one  party  for  revenge  or  the  other  for  security, 
should  attempt  something."  Eleven  days  later  the  same 
writer  continues :  "  We  are  in  great  trouble  through  the  dif- 
ference between  the  family  of  the  late  Duke  of  Guise  and 
the  admiral,  and  many  people  would  be  pleased  to  see  a 
disturbance.  The  queen-mother  does  all  she  can  to  prevent 
it :  the  poor  lady  watches  and  toils  incessantly."?  *  Ont  he 
23d  December,  Morvilliers  writes  again :  "  The  king  and 
queen  are  always  in  trouble  through  the  discords  of  the 
Guises  and  the  admiral.  No  court  can  settle  it,  for  the 
admiral  objects  to  the  parliaments  and  the  others  to  the 
great  council." 

Several  temporary  arrangements  had  been  made,  and  at 
last,  when  the  three  years  had  nearly  expired,  the  Guises, 
whose  desire  for  vengeance  had  grown  all  the  stronger  for 
being  repressed,  appeared  at  Moulins  and  renewed  their  cries 
for  justice.  On  the  12th  Januaiy,  1566,  Charles  published  a 
declaration  that  "  it  was  his  desire  to  bring  the  difference 
about  the  homicide  to  a  happy  issue,  and  that  he  forbade 

*  Paris  :  Cab.  Hist.  iii.  p.  56. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  261 

each  of  the  two  houses  to  attempt  any  thing  against  the 
other."  After  a  wearisome  series  of  explanations,  more 
worthy  of  pettifogging  attorneys  than  of  brave  soldiers, 
Coligny,  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  declared  "  that  he  had 
not  committed  the  murder  or  abetted  it,  and  that  he  had 
never  approved  of  it,  then  or  now."  *  With  this  the  widow 
and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  expressed  themselves  satisfied, 
and  declared  they  would  no  longer  entertain  revengeful  feel- 
ings. Thereupon  the  two  parties  embraced ;  but  the  young 
Duke  Henry  of  Guise  still  held  out,  and  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  queen  challenged  Coligny  to  single  combat.  "The 
admiral  charges  me,"  he  said,  "  with  plotting  his  assassination. 
I  will  not  deny  it,  but  shall  esteem  it  a  singular  favor  to  be 
shut  up  with  him  in  a  room,  when  I  will  show  him  that  I 
am  quite  capable  of  defending  myself,  and  need  not  employ 
other  people  to  settle  my  quarrels." 

So  far  the  queen-mother's  plans  were  frustrated,  and  she 
was  hardly  more  successful  in  arranging  the  difference 
between  Marshal  Montmorency  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine. 
In  consequence  of  the  quarrels  between  the  partisans  of 
the  two  religions,  the  possession  and  carrying  of  arms 
— especially  fire-arms — had  been  strictly  prohibited  in  Paris. 
Montmorency, "  a  wise  man  and  loving  the  public  peace,"  f 
who  after  Marshal  Brissac's  death  had  been  made  governor  of 
Paris,  enforced  the  edict  in  a  manner  never  contemplated 
by  the  king.  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  returning  from  the 
Council  of  Trent,  was  escorted  to  the  capital  by  a  number  of 
gentlemen  and  relatives,  but  they  were  forbidden  to  enter  un- 
less they  laid  aside  their  spears  and  arquebuses  (8th  January, 
1565).  The  prelate  paid  no  attention  to  the  order,  upon 
which  Montmorency  fell  upon  his  escort  at  the  Innocents' 
Cemetery  in  the  Rue  St.  Denis,  killed  some,  wounded  others, 

*  "  Qu'il  n'avait  fait,  ni  fait  faire  1'homicide,  et  qn'il  no  1'avait  approuve 
ni  approuvait."  Brulart's  Journal,  29th  January,  1566.  This  is  hardly 
consistent  with  what  he  wrote  at  the  time  of  the  murder :  supra,  p.  222. 

t  Jean  de  Serres. 


262  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

and  so  frightened  the  churchman  that  he  leaped  off  his  horse 
and  took  refuge  in  a  neighboring  house,  whence  he  safely 
reached  his  own  hotel  during  the  night, 

Pale  en  couleur,  do  ses  membres  tremblant, 
Micux  un  corps  mort  qu'homme  vif  ressemblant. 

The  cardinal  said  he  had  permission  under  the  king's  let- 
ters patent  to  travel  with  an  armed  retinue.  "Then  he 
ought  to  have  shown  them  to  me,"  said  Montmorency, "  and  I 
would  have  allowed  him  to  pass."  The  governor,  rendered  un- 
easy by  the  threatening  posture  of  the  Lorraine  party  in  the 
city,  invited  the  assistance  of  Coligny,  who  entered  Paris  with 
1200  gentlemen,  greatly  to  the  terror  of  the  citizens,  who 
feared  their  streets  would  be  converted  into  a  battle-field ;  but 
the  admiral  conducted  himself  so  prudently,  that  he  was  com- 
plimented by  the  University  and  the  trade  guilds. 

But  nothing  that  the  king  or  his  mother  could  do  was  ef- 
fectual to  dissipate  the  mutual  distrust  with  which  Catholics 
and  Huguenots  still  regarded  each  other.  Every  act  was 
viewed  with  suspicion,  and  to  a  great  extent  the  misgivings 
of  the  Protestants  were  justified  by  the  way  in  which  the 
edicts  of  toleration  were  strained  against  them.  "  The  Hu- 
guenots," says  Pasquier,  who  was  no  friend  to  them,  "  have 
lost  more  by  edicts  in  time  of  peace  than  by  force  in  time  of 
war."  * 

At  Lyons  they  were  accused  of  an  attempt  to  blow  up  the 
city  with  gunpowder,  and  on  this  idle  charge  the  governor 
prevented  their  assembling  for  public  worship.  Every  Prot- 
estant was  expelled  from  Avignon,  and  the  city  and  surround- 
ing districts  were  put  under  martial  law.  At  Foix  a  num- 
ber of  Huguenots  were  murdered ;  at  Toulouse  many  were 
judicially  put  to  death.  These  are  but  a  small  sample  of  the 
Protestant  grievances. 

A  remonstrance  presented  to  the  king  by  the  nobles  of  the 

*  Lettres,  liv.  v.  lett.  3. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  263 

Reformed  religion  in  Maine  displays  a  terrible  picture  of  the 
distui-bed  state  of  that  province.  The  Dame  do  la  Guynan- 
diere  was  murdered,  with  her  son,  three  daughters,  and  two 
waiting-women,  by  a  troop  of  ruffians  from  Le  Mans,  who  aft- 
erward turned  the  pigs  into  the  house  to  devour  the  dead 
bodies.  The  bishop  of  the  diocese,  a  man  of  dissolute  life, 
used  to  ride  about  attended  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  men 
armed  with  pistols  or  arquebuses.  One  Helie,  a  priest,  was 
accused  of  indescribable  acts  of  brutality  toward  nine  little 
girls.  That  and  many  other  such  horrors  fill  a  pamphlet  of 
more  than  one  hundred  pages,  and  the  perpetrators  (as  was 
usually  the  case)  escaped  punishment.* 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Catholics  had  their  complaints.  At 
Pamiers  the  Huguenots  attacked  a  procession,  killed  some  of 
the  clergy  and  burned  their  houses.f  At  Soissons  they  pil- 
laged the  churches,  demolished  the  beautiful  painted  windows, 
broke  the  organ,  melted  the  bells,  stripped  the  lead  off  the 
roofs,  plundered  the  shrines  of  their  gold  and  jewels,  burned 
the  relics  of  the  saints,  and  tore  up  the  charters  and  title- 
deeds  belonging  to  the  clergy.  Similar  tumults  occurred  at 
Montauban  and  other  towns.  Where  the  Catholics  were  the 
strongest,  they  fell  upon  the  Huguenots;  where  the  latter, 
they  attacked  the  Catholics.  At  one  time  there  is  a  rumor  of 
an  attempt  to  assassinate  the  king ;  at  another,  of  an  atrocious 
book  ascribed  to  Bureau,  a  Protestant  pastor,  in  which  the  doc- 
trine is  boldly  affirmed  that  "  it  is  lawful  to  slay  a  king  or  a 
queen  who  resists  the  Gospel  Reformation."  Then  an  anony- 
mous letter  is  found  at  the  door  of  Catherine's  bed-chamber, 
threatening  her  with  the  fate  of  President  Minard  and  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  unless  she  permits  complete  liberty  of  con- 
science to  the  Reformed  party. 

Many  of  the  atrocities  we  have  recorded  were  owing  to  the 
weakness  of  the  central  government.  It  must  be  remembered 

*  Remonstrance  envoyee  au  Roi  par  In  Noblesse  de  la  R.  R.  du  Maine. 
1565. 
t  Cimbcr,  vi.  309;  Discours  des  troubles  (5th  June,  15GG). 


264  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

that  the  several  provinces  of  France  were  under  their  own 
governors,  who  held  their  offices  by  an  almost  hereditary 
right,  and  that  the  king  had  not  always  the  power,  even  when 
he  had  the  inclination,  to  preserve  peace.  There  were  few 
like  that  rough  warrior  Montluc,  who  kept  Gascony  so  quiet 
that  for  three  years  "horseman  or  footman  did  not  steal  so 
much  as  a  pullet."  He  hanged  two  Catholic  soldiers  for  in- 
fringing the  edict,  and  two  Huguenots  who  had  committed  a 
similar  offense  "  were  shortly  strung  up  to  keep  the  others 
company."  And  he  continues :  "  When  these  good  people 
saw  that  neither  one  side  nor  the  other  would  meet  with  any 
indulgence  if  they  transgressed,  they  began  to  like  and  associ- 
ate with  one  another.  I  believe  if  every  one  had  done  the 
same,  without  favor  to  either  side,  we  should  never  have  had 
so  many  troubles." 

Charles,  whose  dislike  toward  "  those  of  the  religion "  need- 
ed no  stimulus,  occasionally  indulged  in  bursts  of  irritation 
which  he  was  too  young  to  repress.  One  day  when  the  ad- 
miral remonstrated  with  him  on  the  restrictions  put  upon  the 
last  edict,  he  replied :  "  Not  long  ago  you  were  satisfied  to 
be  tolerated  by  the  Catholics,  now  you  want  to  be  their 
equals;  in  a  short  time,  I  suppose  you  will  desire  to  be  alone 
and  to  drive  us  from  the  kingdom."  Coligny  made  no  reply, 
as  indeed  no  reply  would  have  satisfied  the  angry  boy,  who 
burst  int§  his  mother's  apartments,  and  added,  after  telling 
her  what  had  passed :  "  The  Duke  of  Alva  was  right :  such 
heads  are  too  tall  in  a  state.  We  must  put  them  down  by 
force."  *  Catherine  appears  at  this  time  to  have  been  exceed- 
ingly ill-disposed  toward  Coligny.  Writing  to  her  daughter 
Isabella,  she  says :  "  Although  the  admiral  remains  at  court, 
he  will  be  as  one  dead  ;f  because,  with  God's  help,  I  shall  not 


*  This  was  said  in  the  hearing  of  L'Hopital.     Dnvila,  i.  163  (Fr.  transl.). 

t  "II  y  sera  comme  s'il  e'tait  raort."  Archives  dc  1'Empire,  Pajriers  Si- 
mancas,  carton  B.  In  reading  Catherine's  letters  to  her  daughter  we  must 
not  forget  that  they  were  to  be  seen  by  Philip  also,  and  that  she  could  not 
be  truthful,  even  when  writing  to  her  own  children. 


MASSACHE  OF  ST.  BAETHOLOMEW.  265 

suffer  myself  to  be  governed  by  either  party,  for  I  know  they 
all  love  God,  the  king,  and  your  mother  less  than  their  own  ad- 
vantage and  ambition ;  and  as  they  know  full  well  that  I  will 
not  permit  the  king  or  the  kingdom  to  be  ruined  by  them, 
they  love  me  in  words  only." 

It  was  about  this  time  also  that  several  German  princes, 
including  the  Palatine  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Dukes  of  Saxony 
and  Wurtemberg,  dispatched  an  embassy  to  Charles,  inter- 
ceding in  behalf  of  their  French  co-religionists.  With  expres- 
sions of  great  attachment,  they  prayed  him  to  observe  the 
Edict  of  Pacification;  to  permit  the  ministers  to  preach  as 
well  at  Paris  as  elsewhere,  and  to  allow  the  people  to  listen 
to  them  in  any  number.  He  answered  them  sharply  that  he 
could  be  friends  with  his  cousins  of  Germany  only  so  long  as 
they  abstained  from  meddling  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  his 
kingdom.  After  a  pause  he  continued  in  a  still  more  angry 
tone :  "  I  might  also  pray  them  to  permit  the  Catholics  to 
worship  freely  in  their  own  cities."  It  was  an  apt  retort,  for 
so  far  as  concerned  public  worship  the  Romanists  in  many 
parts  of  Protestant  Gennany  and  Switzerland  were  very  lit- 
tle, if  at  all,  better  off  than  the  Huguenots  of  France. 

Every  thing  seemed  tending  toward  an  explosion.  The 
Huguenots  and  the  Catholics,  like  two  hostile  nations  on  the 
same  soil,  were  ready  to  fly  at  each  other,  and  the  treacher- 
ous truce,  which  substituted  riots  and  assassination  for  open 
war,  could  not  last  much  longer.  Still  the  actual  rupture 
might  have  been  deferred,  but  for  circumstances  connected 
with  the  state  of  the  Netherlands.  The  Protestants  of  that 
country  had  been  goaded  into  rebellion  by  the  infamous  per- 
secutions of  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  William,  Prince  of  Orange, 
put  himself  at  their  head,  and  although  unsuccessful,  the 
movement  was  considered  so  dangerous  that  the  ferocious  and 
uncompromising  Alva  was  commissioned  to  crush  it  utterly. 
For  this  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  increase  the  Spanish 
army  in  Flanders ;  and  as  that  could  not  be  done  by  sea,  on 
which  the  rebels  were  superior,  a  force  of  ten  thousand  picked 


266  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

veterans  *  was  transported  from  Carthagena  to  Genoa,  whence 
they  made  their  way  through  the  passes  of  Mont  Cenis  into 
Burgundy  and  Lorraine.  Catherine,  who  distrusted  Philip, 
thought  it  prudent  to  watch  their  march,  and  for  that  purpose 
collected  all  the  forces  she  could  muster  to  form  an  army  of 
observation.  These  being  insufficient  for  the  purpose,  Conde 
and  the  admiral  advised  the  enrolment  of  6000  Swiss  merce- 
naries.! The  queen,  delighted  at  such  an  opportunity  of  rais- 
ing soldiers  without  offending  the  susceptibility  of  the  Hu- 
guenots, promptly  acted  upon  the  advice.  But  when  the 
prince  asked  for  the  command  of  the  troops  with  the  quality 
of  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom,  the  constable  withdraw- 
ing his  claim  on  account  of  his  age,  she  fenced  and  prevari- 
cated, although  the  appointment  was  promised  in  one  of  the  se- 
cret articles  of  the  late  treaty  of  peace.  The  Duke  of  Anjou, 
Catherine's  favorite  son,  aspired  to  the  same  office,  and  hear- 
ing of  Cond6's  application,  the  insolent  boy  said  to  him :  "  If 
ever  I  catch  you  failing  in  respect  to  me,  I  will  make  you  as 
little  as  you  aspire  to  be  great."  J  Surprised  at  such  language, 
the  prince  left  the  court.  § 

As  soon  as  the  Spanish  troops  had  crossed  the  frontier  and 
entered  the  Netherlands,  it  was  expected  that  the  royal  army 
would  be  disbanded ;  but,  instead  of  that,  it  was  marched  to 
the  neighborhood  of  Paris.  This  was  of  itself  quite  enough 
to  excite  the  alarm  of  the  Huguenot  leaders,  who  were 
farther  startled  by  information  of  a  plot  to  seize  both  Conde 
and  the  admiral ;  to  imprison  the  former  for  life,  and  put 


*  Brantome  speaks  in  rapture  of  this  "  gentille  et  gaillarde  armce,"  which 
was  accompanied  by  "quatre  cents  courtisanes  a  cheval,  belles  ct  braves 
comme  princesses,  et  huit  cents  a  pied,  bien  en  point  aussi." 

t  Had  Coligny's  proposal  to  stop  Alva's  march  been  adopted,  France  might 
have  been  saved  much  misery ;  for  among  other  things  it  would  have  satis- 
fied the  craving  for  war  felt  by  that  restless  nation  :  "  A  quoi  (sc.  la  guerre) 
la  plupart  e'taient  porte's  par  le  ge'nie  de  la  nation,  qui  ne  saurait  demeurer 
en  repos."  Vie  de  Coliyny^  p.  319. 

t  Schardius :  De  Rc.bus  fje.it.  sub.  Maximil.  ii.  G4. 

§  Bouillon:  Mem.  i.  p.  21. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  267 

the  other  to  death ;  and  to  place  garrisons  in  the  towns  fa- 
vorable to  the  Reformed  religion,  the  exercise  of  which  was 
to  be  prohibited  all  over  th.e  kingdom.*  The  heads  of  the 
Huguenot  party  immediately  took  council  with  the  admiral 
at  his  castle  of  Chatillon.  Their  deliberations  were  long  and 
serious.  Xo  doubt  seems  to  have  been  entertained  regarding 
the  truth  of  the  report.  The  suspicions  aroused  by  the 
Bayonne  meeting,  corroborated  by  stories  of  the  projected 
massacre  at  Moulins,  which  failed  only  because  the  Hugue- 
nots were  present  in  too  great  number,  were  strengthened  by 
the  insolence  of  Anjou  and  the  queen-mother's  insincerity. 
The  edicts  of  toleration  had  not  been  fairly  brought  into  oper- 
ation ;  new  interpretation  edicts  were  continually  encroaching 
upon  the  privileges  of  the  Reformed ;  Alva  was  at  hand  in 
Flanders  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  scheme  he  had  suggest- 
ed only  a  few  months  before.  Men  in  a  panic  never  reason 
fairly,  never  indeed  examine  into  the  truth  of  the  rumors  by 
which  their  alarm  has  been  roused.  It  was  so  in  the  present 
instance  when  the  more  violent  party  said :  "  Shall  we  tarry 
until  they  come  and  bind  us  hand  and  foot,  and  so  draw  us 
unto  their  scaffold  at  Paris,  there  by  our  shameful  deaths  to 
glut  others'  cruelty  ?  Do  we  not  see  the  foreign  enemy  march- 
ing armed  toward  us,  and  threatening  to  be  revenged  on  us 
for  Dreux  ?  Have  we  forgotten  that  about  3000  of  our  re- 
ligion have,  since  the  peace,  endured  violent  deaths,  for  whom 
we  can  have  no  redress  ?  If  it  were  our  king's  will  we  should 
be  thus  injured,  we  might  perhaps  the  better  bear  it;  but  shall 
we  bear  the  insolence  of  those  who  shroud  themselves  under 
his  name  and  try  to  alienate  his  good-will  from  us  ?  For  more 
than  forty  years  our  fathers  professed  the  true  religion  in  se- 
cret, and  endured  all  sorts  of  tortures  and  injuries  with  pa- 
tience inexhaustible.  If  we  who  are  so  numerous,  and  who 
are  able  to  .profess  our  religion  openly,  should  betray  a  right- 

*  Capefigue:  La  Reforme,  ch.  xxxii.,  gives  the  text  of  the  "Instruction 
a  M.  Feuquieres."  La  Noue  speaks  of  "certain  intercepted  letters  coming 
from  Spain,"  p.  389  (Engl.  transl.). 


268  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

cous  cause  by  a  disgraceful  silence  and  unseasonable  modera- 
tion, we  should  fall  into  an  apostasy  unworthy  of  the  two 
goodly  titles  of  Christian  and  gentleman.  We  should  be 
wanting  not  only  to  ourselves  but  to  God,  and  besides  losing 
our  own  souls  should  be  the  cause  of  ruin  to  others."*  Co- 
ligny  advised  them  to  be  patient :  "  I  see  clearly  how  we  may 
rekindle  the  fire,"  he  said ;  "  but  not  where  we  may  find  water 
to  quench  it."  His  brother  Andelot  was  for  more  vigorous 
measures :  "  If  we  wait  until  we  are  shut  up  in  prison,  what 
will  our  patience  avail  us  ?  If  we  give  our  enemies  the  advan- 
tage of  striking  the  first  blow,  we  shall  never  recover  from  it." 
But  before  coming  to  a  final  decision,  a  deputation  of  the  Hu- 
guenot nobility  waited  upon  Catherine  and  entreated  her  to 
be  more  just  to  their  co-religionists.  Their  reception  was 
such  that  there  seemed  no  alternative  left  them  but  to  draw 
the  sword. 

It  was  an  unfortunate  decision,  and  not  justified  by  the  real 
facts.  But  the  mistake  committed  by  the  Huguenot  chiefs  is 
patent  enough,  and  they  were  thought  by  their  contemporaries 
to  have  acted  very  wisely.  La  Popeliniere,  whose  evidence  on 
this  point  is  of  great  weight,  speaks  of  "  the  approach  of  the 
Swiss  who  had  been  levied  under  color  of  preventing  the  en- 
trance of  the  King  of  Spain  and  the  Queen  of  England ;  and 
since  then,  the  necessity  having  passed,  the  declaration  made 
to  them  by  Barbazieux,  the  king's  lieutenant  in  Champagne, 
that  they  were  to  be  employed  against  those  of  the  religion."f 
Alva,  in  a  letter  to  his  royal  master,  written  on  the  28th  June, 
1567,  testifies  to  the  satisfaction  felt  in  France  at  the  vicinity 
of  the  Spanish  troops.J  Languet  writes  from  Strasburg  on 

*  La  Noue,  p.  390  (Enpl.  transl.) ;  De  Thou,  liv.  xlii. 

•f  La  Popeliniere,  xiii.  81. 

I  Alva  to  king,  28th  June,  1567:  "Es  increible  el  contcntamiento  con 
que  estan  los  catolicos  de  Francia  do  vcr  pasar  estas  fuerzas  de  VM.  en 
Flandrcs,  que  les  paresce  ser  esta  su  redempcion ;  y  asi  me  dijo  un  secre- 
tario  del  Card,  do  Lorena  ....  quo  el  Card,  su  amo  y  toda  la  cnsa  de 
Guisa  estavan  resueltos  como  las  fuerzas  de  VM.  estuviesen  en  Flandres, 
irsc  ellos  a  la  corte,  donde  entien  que  csto  les  hara  tan  gran  sombra  que 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  269 

the  22d  October,  that  the  Huguenot  chiefs  knew  for  certain 
that  the  pope  and  the  other  princes  who  had  conspired  against 
the  true  religion,  had  determined,  as  soon  as  it  was  put  down 
in  Lower  Germany,  to  do  the  same  in  France,  and  for  that  pur- 
pose the  king  had  raised  a  strong  force  of  Swiss."  * 

The  Huguenot  counterplot  Avas  to  seize  the  king  and  his  moth- 
er, then  residing  at  her  castle  of  Monceaux  in  Brie,  just  as 
the  Guise  faction  had  seized  them  five  years  before.  Indistinct 
rumors  of  a  Protestant  rising  reached  the  court,  and  a  messen- 
ger was  sent  to  watch  the  admiral.  On  his  return  he  report- 
ed that  he  had  found  the  old  warrior  busily  engaged  hi  getting 
in  his  vintage.f  Two  days  later  (28th  September,  1567),  all 
France  was  in  flames.  Fifty  towns  were  seized,  and  a  strong 
force  of  Huguenot  cavalry  was  preparing  for  a  dash  upon 
Meaux,  about  ten  leagues  east  of  Paris,  whither  the  court  had 
proceeded  upon  the  first  intelligence  of  the  outbreak.  Confu- 
sion prevailed  in  that  little  city :  Catherine  feared  to  leave  it 
lest  she  should  be  intercepted  by  the  Huguenots,  and  the  Swiss 
troops,  though  not  far  off,  were  not  so  near  as  the  cavalry 
under  Conde.  The  Swiss  were  ordered  to  be  brought  up  with 
all  speed ;  but  L'Hopital  suggested  that  the  wiser  plan  would 
be  to  disband  those  mercenaries — a  concession  which  would 
satisfy  the  Huguenots,  and  induce  them  to  lay  down  their 
arms.  "  Will  you  guarantee  that  they  have  no  other  aim  than 
to  serve  the  king?"  asked  Catherine.  "I  will,"  he  replied, 
"if  I  am  assured  there  is  no  intention  of  deceiving  them." 
But  either  the  queen  was  meditating  treachery,  as  L'Hopital's 
remark  would  almost  imply,  or  the  risk  appeared  too  great. 
The  Swiss  made  their  appearance,  and,  under  their  safeguard, 

scran  vistos  diferentemente  de  como  lo  ban  sido  hasta  aqui."  Navarretc : 
Docum.  ined.  vi.  371. 

*  "  Certo  sciverunt  Pontif.  Rom.  et  reliquos  principcs  ....  constitu- 
issc  jam  tcntare  Gallinm  ....  conduxit  itaqne  rex  ad  earn  rem  perfici- 
cndam  xx.  signa  Helvetiorum." — To  the  same  purport  writes  Castelnau, 
383. 

t  "Habillc  en  me'nagier  faisant  ses  vendanpes."  Pasquier,  Lettres,  ii. 
117(cd.  1723). 


270  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  king  reached  Paris  in  twelve  hours.  "  But  for  Nemours  and 
my  good  friends  the  Swiss,  I  should  have  lost  both  liberty  and 
life,"  said  Charles.  The  Duke  of  Nemours,  who,  from  his 
marriage  with  Anne  of  Este,  widow  of  the  murdered  Duke 
Francis,  was  held  in  great  respect  by  the  Guises,  commanded 
a  body  of  volunteers  composed  of  gentlemen  attached  to  the 
court,  who  acted  as  a  sort  of  light  cavalry,  and  covered  the 
king's  retreat.  More  than  once  Charles  turned  upon  his  pur- 
suers and  fought  at  the  head  of  his  gallant  little  body-guard. 
The  constable,  seeing  the  unnecessary  danger  to  which  he  ex- 
posed himself,  caught  his  horse  by  the  bridle  and  stopped  him, 
saying :  "  Your  majesty  should  not  risk  your  person  like  this : 
it  is  too  dear  to  us  to  permit  you  to  be  accompanied  by  a  troop 
of  less  than  10,000  French  gentlemen." 

But  Conde  with  his  five  hundred  horse  could  do  nothing 
against  the  6000  Swiss,  who  "  stood  fast  awhile  and  then 
retired  close,  still  turning  their  head  as  doth  the  wild  boar 
whom  the  hunters  pursue."  *  The  prince  had  lost  his  oppor- 
tunity. While  he  was  wasting  time  in  an  idle  conference 
with  Montmorency,  whom  the  queen-mother  had  ostensibly 
sent  to  demand  the  cause  of  his  arming,  the  Swiss  were  hur- 
rying to  Meaux  with  the  utmost  speed.  His  irresolution  Avas 
a  great  mistake :  he  ought  never  to  have  made  the  attempt 
to  seize  the  king's  person,  or  to  have  risked  every  thing  to 
clutch  the  prize  Avithin  his  reach.  His  failure  made  him  a 
traitor  as  Avell  as  a  rebel,  and  inflamed  the  anger  of  Charles 
against  the  Huguenots  more  than  success  could  have  done.f 
In  the  latter  case  the  king  Avould,  in  spite  of  appearances, 
have  found  them  to  be  loyal  and  faithful  subjects,  and  Avould 
have  had  the  best  of  evidence  that  in  their  hands  neither  his 
life  nor  his  liberty  were  imperiled.  As  it  AA'as,  he  never  for- 
gave their  attempt  to  seize  him,  and  he  swore  with  one  of 

*  La  Noue,  p.  395  (Engl.  transl.)- 

t  Had  the  Huguenots  succeeded,  they  would  have  burned  Paris.  For  the 
proofs  of  such  an  improbable  story  see  Hist,  'rel'uj.  pol.  etc.  de  la  Comj>.  de 
Jesus,  by  J.  Cretineau-Joly  (3  ed.  Paris,  1859),  ii.  ch.  ii.  p.  85. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  27X 

his  usual  blasphemous  oaths,  that  he  would  some  day  be  re- 
venged on  them. 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  knowing  that  he  had  little  to  hope 
for  should  he  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Huguenot  chiefs,  fled 
in  another  direction,  losing  his  baggage  on  the  road,  and 
got  safe  to  Rheims,  where  he  entered  into  a  traitorous  cor- 
respondence with  the  King  of  Spain,  offering  to  place  several 
frontier  towns  in  his  hands,  and  support  his  claims  to  the 
throne  of  France  in  right  of  his  wife.*  But  his  plots  were 
frustrated  by  the  course  of  events. 

Both  parties  now  made  the  most  strenuous  exertions  to 
increase  their  forces.  The  king,  writing  to  Simiane  de  Gor- 
des,  governor  of  Dauphiny,  instructing  him  to  raise  troops 
and  keep  down  the  heretics,  uses  language  worthy  of  the 
St.  Bartholomew :  "  You  will  cut  them  in  pieces,  not 
sparing  one,  for  the  more  dead  the  fewer  enemies"  f  Before 
the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities,  attempts  were  made  by  the 
Moderates,  or  Parti  Politiquc,  to  effect  a  reconciliation. 
Conde  demanded  complete  toleration  of  the  Reformed  relig- 
ion all  over  the  kingdom,  without  distinction  of  place  or 
person ;  to  which  Charles  IX.  replied,  through  Marshal 
Montmorency,  that  "  he  would  not  tolerate  two  religions  in 
his  kingdom."  There  was  nothing  more  to  be  done :  the 
sword  must  decide  between  them.  The  train-bands  of  Paris 
were  called  out ;  new  taxes  were  imposed ;  the  clergy  made 
a  voluntary  gift  of  250,000  crowns,  a  loan  of  100,000  crowns 
was  raised  at  Venice,  and  one  to  a  similar  amount  at  Flor- 
ence. 

Although  the  Huguenot  force  was  very  small— 7!  200  foot 
and  1500  horse — the  chiefs  boldly  marched  to  Paris,  which 
they  hoped  to  blockade  and  starve  into  submission  before  any 

*  Gachard :  Correct.  Philippe  //.,  torn.  i.  p.  593. 

t  "  Car  tant  plus  dc  morts,  moeingz  d'cnnemys."  Letter  of  8th  October, 
1567.  LivreduRoy.  Grenoble  MS.  Gordcs  proving  too  merciful  in  carry- 
ing out  these  harsh  instructions,  the  cruel  and  intemperate  Maugiron  was 
appointed  his  colleague. 


272  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

help  could  reach  that  city  from  the  more  distant  provinces. 
But  here  again  Catherine's  wonderful  talent  for  negotiation 
was  exerted  to  keep  the  Protestant  leaders  in  check,  until 
the  reinforcements — impetuously  summoned  from  various 
quarters — were  hurriedly  marched  into  the  capital.  Conde 
had  placarded  the  walls  of  Paris  with  a  protest  that  he  had 
taken  up  arms  only  to  deliver  the  king's  subjects  from  the 
oppression  of  Italian  favorites  ;  but  he  was  no  match  for 
those  wily  Italians  who,  now  feeling  safe,  broke  off  the  nego- 
tiations. On  the  10th  November,  the  Huguenots  found 
themselves  in  the  presence  of  the  royal  forces  on  the  great 
plain  of  St.  Denis.  It  was  then  quite  open  and  highly  culti- 
vated, the  only  buildings  on  it  were  a  soliatry  farm-house  and 
a  few  windmills.  Across  it  ran  that  broad  highway,  along 
which  travelers  from  the  north  used  to  pass  before  the  rail- 
road had  diverted  the  living  stream.  The  troops  under 
Constable  Montmorency  were  five  times  more  numerous  than 
those  under  Conde,  and  had  the  advantage  of  artillery.  The 
scene  of  the  contest  was  about  a  mile  from  Paris,  between 
Montmartre,  Pantin,  and  St.  Denis.  The  gibbet  of  Mont- 
fau9on  was  on  the  edge  of  the  field.  Being  so  near  the  walls, 
crowds  of  idlers,  including  many  women,  went  to  look  on.* 
Ballad  singers  were  already  celebrating  Montmorency's  vic- 
tory, quacks  on  their  frail  platforms  were  extolling  their 
salves  and  plasters  for  wounds ;  the  swindlers  and  ruffians, 
the  cheats  and  rogues,  who  live  by  the  vices,  or  prey  upon 
the  weaknesses  of  society — all  the  vermin  of  a  great  city — 
were  there  in  crowds  ;  monks  mingled  in  the  throng,  chant- 
ing their  litanies  and  selling  beads  ;  and  more  numerous  than 
all  was  that  foul  horde  which  always  gathers,  like  birds  of 
prey,  upon  a  battle-field. 

There  was  not  much  time  to  lose  in  manoeuvring,  for  the 
day  was  drawing  to  a  close.     Conde  charged  furiously  upon 

*  As  crowds  of  American  ladies  are  reported  to  have  gone  out  to  witness 
the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  273 

the  advancing  enemy,  sweeping  every  thing  before  him,  so 
much  to  the  admiration  of  the  spectators  that  they  loudly 
applauded  the  gallant  Huguenots.  "  If  my  master  had  only 
6000  horsemen  like  those  white-coats*  yonder,"  exclaimed 
the  sultan's  envoy,  who  had  been  watching  the  fight  from  the 
city  walls,  "  he  would  soon  be  master  of  the  world."  But  the 
Huguenots  were  so  outnumbered  that  they  were  gradually 
hemmed  in  by  the  larger  masses  of  the  enemy,  and  compelled 
to  retreat.  The  approach  of  night  saved  them  from  farther 
disaster.  The  battle  was  fatal  to  the  constable,  who  seems 
to  have  fallen  a  victim  to  private  malice.  In  the  heat  of  .a 
charge,  when  wounded  and  separated  from  his  troops,  he  saw 
one  Robert  Stuart  ride  up  to  him  and  present  a  pistol.  The 
constable,  expecting  to  be  made  a  prisoner,  called  out :  "  You 
do  not  know  me  !"  "  It  is  just  because  I  do  know  you," 
replied  the  Scotchman,  "  that  I  give  you  this."  And  he 
fired,t  the  ball  shattering  Montmorency's  shoulder  and  throw- 
ing him  to  the  ground,  not  however  before  he  had  broken 
Stuart's  jaw  with  the  fragment  of  the  sword  he  still  grasped 
in  his  warlike  hand.  His  death  was  like  his  life.  When  a 
priest  approached  to  administer  religious  consolation,  he 
smilingly  begged  to  be  left  in  peace,  "  for  it  would  be  a 
shameful  thing,"  he  added,  "  to  have  known  how  to  live 
fourscore  years,  and  not  know  how  to  die  one  short  quar- 
ter of  an  hour."  The  queen-mother  went  to  visit  him  before 
his  death,  and,  as  she  bent  over  his  bed  to  console  him,  he 
advised  her  to  make  peace  as  soon  as  possible,  adding  that 
"  the  shortest  follies  are  the  best."|  Marshal  Vieillcvillc  was 

*  The  Huguenots  adopted  white,  the  king's  color,  to  indicate  their  loyalty  ; 
their  opponents  chose  red,  the  emblem  of  Spain. 

t  One  account  says  that  the  constable  was  really  killed  by  "  un  autre 
Ecossais, "  who  shot  him  in  the  loins. 

J  "  Expetebat  pacem,  et  ob  earn  rem  adduxcrant  cum  in  suspicionem 
apud  vulgus  ii  qni  sperant  sc  ex  calami tatibtis  publicis  aucturos  suas  opes  ft 
suam  potentiam  ....  Fuit  amans  patriae  et  moderatior,"  etc.  Lnngne1, 
Ej,ist.  i.  33. 

s 


274  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

of  the  same  opinion.  "  It  was  not  your  majesty  that  gained 
the  battle,"  said  he  to  the  king,  "  much  less  the  Prince  of 
Conde  !"  "  Who  then  gained  it  ?"  asked  Charles.  "  The 
King  of  Spain,"  answered  Vieilleville ;  "for  on  both  sides 
valiant  captains  and  brave  soldiers  have  fallen,  enough  to 
conquer  Flanders  and  the  Low  Countries."  The  united  loss 
was  nearly  six  hundred. 

The  death  of  the  constable  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  Mod- 
erate party,  although  he  did  not  actually  belong  to  them.  He 
had  learned  wisdom  as  he  advanced  in  life,  showing  himself 
one  of  those  rare  men — rare  at  all  times,  but  especially  so-  in 
the  sixteenth  century — who  could  accommodate  themselves 
to  altered  circumstances.  His  deep  loyalty  to  the  crown 
made  him  suspicious  of  the  Lorraine  faction ;  and  his  rela- 
tionship to  Conde  and  the  Chatillons  tempered  the  zeal  of 
his  orthodoxy.  He  saw  clearly  that  no  one  would  gain  by 
the  war,  except  the  enemies  of  France.  Languet  adds  that, 
taught  by  experience,  Montmorency  had  learned  that  the  Hu- 
guenots could  not  be  crushed  without  the  ruin  of  the  king- 
dom; and  he  labored  strenuously  to  carry  out  the  Pacifica- 
tion of  Amboise  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  pope  and  Philip 
of  Spain.* 

Before  the  end  of  the  year,  a  body  of  2000  foot  and  1500 
horse,  dispatched  by  Alva  from  Flanders  under  the  Count 
of  Aremberg,  accompanied  by  a  choice  band  of  the  Catholic 
nobility  of  the  Low  Countries,  had  joined  the  royal  camp  of 
Paris.  At  the  same  time  the  Huguenots  were  expecting 
reinforcements  from  Germany,  and,  in  order  to  meet  them, 
Conde  left  his  head-quarters  at  Chalons,  marched  above 
twenty  leagues  in  three  days,  through  the  rain  and  over  bad 
roads,  losing  neither  wagons  nor  artillery.  There  was  some 
doubt  whether  the  royal  forces  would  not  intercept  the  Ger- 
mans before  they  could  join  the  Huguenots.  "  And  what 

*  •  Edoctus  suo  malo  ....  omnino  hoc  incumbit  ut  Edictum  tibiquc 
inandctur  execution!. "  Languet,  Ejiist.  ii.  357. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  275 

you  do,  in  case  they  do  not  come  to  the  rendezvous  ?" 
asked  some  one  of  Conde.  "  I  think  we  should  have  to  blow 
on  our  fingers,"  he  jestingly  replied,  "  for  the  weather  is 
very  cold."  But  they  were  not  reduced  to  such  extremity, 
having  formed  a  successful  junction  with  the  German  aux- 
iliaries, commanded  by  John  Casimir,  son  of  the  elector- 
palatine.  This  force  consisted  of  7000  cavalry  and  4000 
infantry — all  mercenary  troops  who  fought  solely  for  pay 
and  plunder.  Before  they  would  move  another  step,  the 
reiters  (as  they  were  called)  demanded  a  bounty  of  100,000 
crowns ;  and  as  the  military  chest  was  empty,  the  French 
force  voluntarily  subscribed  money,  jewels,  rings,  gold  chains, 
and  other  ornaments  to  the  amount  of  30,000  crowns,  with 
which  the  Germans,  astonished  at  so  much  self-denial,  were 
momentarily  satisfied.  "Even  soldiers,  lackeys,  and  boys 
gave  every  one  somewhat,"  says  La  ISToue,  "  so  as  in  the  end 
it  was  accounted  a  dishonor  to  have  given  a  little."  The  old 
warrior  takes  the  opportunity  furnished  by  this  incident  to 
describe  some  of  the  difficulties  with  which  the  Huguenot 
chiefs  had  to  contend.  It  required  "great  art  and  diligence 
to  feed  an  unpaid  army  of  above  20,000  men."  The  admiral 
was  remarkably  careful  in  all  the  arrangements  of  his-  com- 
missariat department,  and  acted  up  to  the  spirit  of  the  old 
saying,  that  "  a  soldier  fights  upon  his  belly."  Whenever 
there  was  any  question  of  forming  an  army,  he  used  to  say : 
"  Let  us  begin  the  shaping  of  this  monster  by  the  belly." 
"  This  devouring  animal,"  continues  La  Noue,  "  passing 
through  so  many  provinces,  could  still  find  some  pasture 
wherewith  was  sometimes  mixed  the  poor  man's  garment, 
yea,  and  the  friend's  too ;  so  sore  did  necessity  and  desire  to 
catch  incite  those  that  wanted  no  excuses  to  color  their 
spoil." 

Civil  war  now  raged  with  increased  fury  all  over  France. 
Although  the  two  main  armies  did  not  again  come  into  col- 
lision, there  were  little  partisan  campaigns  in  every  province 
and  almost  every  largo  town.  It  was  during  this  period 


276  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

that  Nismes  became  the  theatre  of  that  terrible  tragedy 
known  as  the  Michelade,  from  its  occurring  at  the  feast  of 
St.  Michael  in  1567.  The  new  doctrines  had  made  such  prog- 
ress in  the  old  Roman  city  that,  in  the  year  1562,  the  mu- 
nicipal council  decided  that  the  cathedral  with  some  other 
churches  should  be  made  over  to  the  Reformed,  and  farther 
ordered  the  bells  of  the  convents  to  be  cast  into  cannon,  the 
convents  to  be  let  "  for  the  good  of  the  state,5*  the  relics 
and  their  shrines  to  be  sold,  and  the  non-conforming  priests 
to  leave  the  city.  Damville,  governor  of  Languedoc,  and 
second  son  of  the  Constable  Montmorency,was  sent  to  Nismes 
to  restore  order,  which'  he  succeeded  in  doing  by  severe 
and  arbitrary  measures.  At  Uzes,  a  person  named  Mouton 
having  ventured  to  blame  these  high-handed  proceedings, 
was  taken .  and  hanged  on  the  spot  without  any  form  of 
trial.*  If  such  was  the  beginning,  we  may  imagine  what  the 
Reformed  had  to  suffer  afterward.  At  length  a  trifling 
circumstance  led  to  an  explosion.  About  six  in  the  morning 
of  the  30th  September,  1567,  the  second  day  of  St.  Michael's 
fair,  some  Albanians  belonging  to  Damville's  guard,  lounging 
outside  the  city  gates,  stopped  several  women  bringing  veg- 
etables to  market,  and  in  mere  wantonness  upset  the  baskets 
and  trampled  upon  their  contents.  There  was  an  immediate 
uproar :  the  women  screamed,  the  neighbors  ran  to  their 
assistance,  and  the  crowd  was  swelled  by  the  peasants  coming 
from  the  country,  at  whose  menacing  gestures  the  foreigners 
drew  their  swords  to  defend  themselves.  On  a  sudden  there 
was  a  shout :  "To  arms !  to  arms  !  Kill  the  Papists  !" 
Hundreds  rushed  out  of  their  houses  and  collected  on  the 
esplanade.  The  Consul  Gui  Rochette  tried  to  calm  them,  but 
they  violently  rejected  his  prudent  advice.  When  the  news 
of  the  tumult  reached  the  bishop  he  exclaimed :  "  This  is 
the  prince  of  darkness  !  blessed  be  the  holy  name  of  Heav- 
en !"  and  then  knelt  down  in  prayer,  momentarily  expecting 

*  Borrel:  Hist,  de  tEylise  2lt!f.  de  Nimes,  12mo.  Toulouse,  1856,  p.  51. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  277 

martyrdom.  He  succeeded,  however,  in  escaping  from  the 
mob,  who,  in  their  angry  disappointment,  sacked  his  palace 
and  killed  the  vicar-general.  A  number  of  Catholics,  includ- 
ing the  consul  and  his  brother,  had  been  shut  up  in  the 
cellars  of  the  episcopal  residence.  About  an  hour  before 
midnight  they  were  dragged  out  and  led  into  that  grey  old 
court-yard,  where  the  imagination  can  still  detect  the  traces 
of  that  cruel  massacre.*  One  by  one  the  victims  came  forth  ; 
a  few  steps,  and  they  fell  pierced  by  sword  or  pike.  Some 
struggled  with  their  murderers,  and  tried  to  escape,  but  only 
prolonged  their  agony.  By  the  dim  light  of  a  few  torches 
between  seventy  and  eighty  unhappy  wretches  were  butch- 
ered in  cold  blood,  and  their  bodies,  some  only  half-dead, 
were  thown  into  the  well  in  one  corner  of  the  yard,  not  far 
from  an  orange-tree,  the  leaves  of  which  (says  local  tradition) 
were  ever  afterward  marked  with  the  blood-stains  of  this 
massacre. 

The  Michelade  has  been  contrasted  with  the  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, but  there  is  this  difference  between  the  two  crimes: 
the  former  was  committed  in  despite  of  the  exhortations  of 
the  pastors,  and  no  one  has  attempted  to  justify  it.  After 
the  peace  of  Longjumeau,  the  Parliament  of  Toulouse  prose- 
cuted all  who  had  taken  any  part  in  the  murders.  More 
than  a  hundred  persons  were  condemned  by  default  to  be 
hanged  and  to  pay  200,000  livres,  of  which  60,000  were 
allotted  to  the  repair  of  the  churches,  6000  to  Gui's  widow, 
and  the  remainder  to  the  families  of  the  victims.  Only  four 
were  caught,  who,  after  being  dragged  through  the  city  at 
the  horse's  tail,  were  beheaded,  and  their  quarters  hung  up 
over  the  principal  gates.  In  the  September  of  the  following 
year,  the  brutal  scenes  of  violence  were  renewed :  the  city 
was  plundered,  and  its  streets  were  dyed  with  Catholic  blood. 
The  governor,  St.  Andre,  was  shot  and  thrown  out  of  the 


*  Barnpnon  :  Uist.  de  Nimes,  torn,  ii.;  an  anonymous  Histoire  de  la  Villede 
Nimes,  SVo.  Amstcrd.  1767. 


278  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

window,  and  his  corpse  was  torn  in  pieces  by  the  lawless 
mob. 

In  the  country  round  Nismes  forty-eight  unresisting  Cath- 
olics were  murdered ;  and  at  Alais  the  Huguenots  massacred 
seven  canons,  two  grey-friars,  and  several  other  churchmen. 
Even  at  the  little  town  of  Gap,  far  away  among  the  Upper 
Alps,  the  followers  of  the  two  religions,  who  had  hitherto 
lived  together  on  friendly  terms,  now  sought  each  other's 
blood.  The  outbreak  was  occasioned  by  the  attempt  of  the 
Catholics  to  wear  a  white  cross — a  badge  of  distinction  re- 
cently adopted  among  the  Romanists.  The  two  parties  came 
to  blows,  and,  says  their  historian,  "they  vied  with  one  an- 
other in  cruelty."  *  It  was  the  same  wherever  the  two  armies 
marched.  "  Our  people,"  writes  Languet,  "  burn  all  the  mon- 
asteries and  destroy  all  the  churches  they  come  near :  but  the 
Germans  (that  is,  the  reiters)  spoil  friends  and  enemies  alike." 
Castelnau  confirms  this  statement :  "  When  Blois  capitulated, 
faith  was  not  kept  with  the  governor  and  inhabitants  on  the 
ground  that  the  Catholics  boasted  of  not  keeping  their  prom- 
ise to  the  Huguenots.  So  that  on  both  sides  the  droit  des 
gens  was  violated  without  any  shame.  .  .  .  What  the  Hu- 
guenots spared  was  plundered  by  the  Catholics."f  Even 
the  dead  were  not  left  in  peace ;  in  more  than  one  instance 
the  corpses  were  exhumed  and  treated  with  savage  barbar- 
ity. 

But  these  scattered  hostilities^  much  as  they  increased  the 
misery  of  France,  had  very  little  influence  on  the  main  course 
of  events.  So  long  as  Conde  and  Coligny  were  in  the  field, 
the  cause  of  independence  was  safe.  The  young  Duke  of  An- 
jou,  who,  as  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom,  had  been  put 
at  the  head  of  the  royal  forces,  was  no  match  for  his  experi- 
enced antagonists ;  nor  could  he  always  check  the  dissensions 

*  Charronet :  Les  Guerres  de  Religion  dans  les  Ilautes  Aljies,  p.  50.  (8vo. 
Gap,  1863). 

t  "Ce  qui  restait  du  pillage  des  Huguenots  etait  rcpille'  par  les  Catho- 
liqnes."  Castelnau. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  279 

between  the  veteran  generals  who,  nominally  under  his  orders, 
were  really  the  directors  of  all  his  movements.  The  Hugue- 
not leaders  saw  the  favorable  opportunity,  and,  with  unex- 
pected caution  and  rapidity,  Conde  moved  his  army  toward 
Chartres,  hi  the  hope  of  securing  it  as  a  base  of  operations 
against  Paris.  But  the  Royalists  were  too  quick  for  him,  and 
the  garrison  was  reinforced  before  he  could  reach  the  city. 
Determined  to  take  the  town  at  all  hazards — for  it  was  on  the 
main  line  of  communication  between  Paris  and  the  west  and 
south — Coligny  pressed  the  siege,  when  Catherine,  seeing  that 
affairs  had  reached  a  crisis,  took  the  bold  step  of  appearing 
in  the  enemy's  camp. 

A  timely  remonstrance  from  the  pen  of  Chancellor  L'llopi- 
tal  had  a  marked  effect  in  turning  the  minds  of  the  people  to- 
ward peace.  Beginning  with  a  comparison  of  the  two  parties 
he  says,  "  The  Huguenots  are  not  a  mob  hastily  collected  to- 
gether, but  men,  warlike,  resolute,  and  in  .despair  .  .  .  ready 
to  venture  all  that  men  hold  most  dear  in  defense  of  their 
wives  and  children.  The  Catholic  party  is  ill-constructed,  all 
are  tired  of  the  war,  and,  even  among  the  common  people, 
there  is  nothing  but  murmuring.  .  .  .  To  exterminate  the  en- 
emy is  impossible,  unless  you  would  fill  the  country  with  pes- 
tilence, famine,  and  starvation.  Look  at  Champagne — a  des- 
ert, so  utterly  wretched  that  there  is  nothing  left  the  poor  in- 
habitants but  to  die  of  hunger  and  despair.  .  .  .  But  if  we 
could  destroy  them  all,  what  will  you  do  with  their  innocent 
children  ?  If  you,  spare  them,  will  they  not  grow  up  to  avenge 
their  fathers  ?  If  the  king  should  lose  a  battle,  he  would  be 
deserted  by  thousands  who  now  follow  him  through  fear  or 
love  of  plunder :  it  would  be  the  destruction  of  his  throne." 
After  combating  the  arguments  of  those  who  contend  that 
the  king  is  bound  to  punish  rebels,  and  that  he  can  not  capitu- 
late with  his  subjects,  he  advises  Charles  "  to  use  clemency, 
as  he  shall  meet  it  from  God ;  to  forget  his  own  resentment 
toward  his  subjects,  and  they  will  forget  their  evil  dispositions 
toward  him,  and  forget  their  very  selves  to  honor  and  obey 


280  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

him."  *  If  the  queen-mother  was  not  influenced  by  these  ar- 
guments, she  saw  at  least  that  it  was  time  to  put  an  end  to  the 
war.  She  had  often  boasted  that  her  tongue  and  her  pen  were 
more  than  a  match  for  the  lances  of  her  enemies ;  and  their 
power  was  never  more  strikingly  shown  than  in  the  present 
instance.  She  offered  an  amnesty  for  all  past  offenses,  and 
an  unconditional  acquiescence  in  the  demands  of  her  son's 
"  loyal  though  misguided  subjects."  The  admiral  was  suspi- 
cious, and  hesitated.  "  They  have  not  forgiven  us  the  surprise 
of  Meaux,"  he  said.  "But  the  desire  of  all  for  peace,"  ob- 
serves La  Nouc,  "  was  as  a  whirlwind  which  they  could  not 
resist."  f  Meanwhile  the  Huguenot  army  melted  away,  whole 
bodies  going  off  without  asking  leave,  and  Conde  hurried- 
ly signed  the  Treaty  of  Longjumeau  (20th  March,  1568),J 
which  restored  the  Edict  of  Amboise,  bound  the  court  to  pay 
the  foreign  auxiliaries  in  the  rebel  service,  and  left  the  Re- 
formed party,  says  Mezeray,  "  at  the  mercy  of  their  enemies, 
Avith  no  other  guarantee  than  the  word  of  an  Italian  wom- 
an.'^ 

While  the  admiral  was  negotiating  the  treaty  of  Longjumeau 
his  wife  fell  ill  and  died  at  Orleans  of  a  fever  contracted  in 
the  course  of  her  charitable  labors  in  that  crowded  and  un- 
healthy city.  As  soon  as  she  felt  the  approaches  of  death,  she 
wrote  the  following  pathetic  letter  to  her  husband :  "  I  feel 
very  unhappy  in  dying  so  far  from  you,  whom  I  have  always 
loved  more  than  myself ;  but  I  take  comfort  from  the  knowl- 
edge that  you  are  kept  away  from  me  by  the  best  of  motives. 
I  entreat  you,  by  the  love  you  bear  me,  and  by  the  children  I 
leave  you  as  pledges  of  my  love,  to  fight  to  the  last  extremity 
for  God's  service  and  the  advancement  of  religion.  .  .  .  Train 
up  our  children  in  the  pure  religion,  so  that  if  you  fail  them, 

*  " Discours  des  Raisons,"  etc.,  in  Anc.  Collect.  M&n.  France,  xlviii.  p.  224. 

t  La  None,  p.  409. 

I  Lonpjumcau  is  about  four  leagues  south  of  Paris,  on  the  old  coach-road 
to  Orleans. 

§  Mezeray:  Abrfye,  iii.  p.  10."»1.  Montlnc  says:  "Le  prince  et  I'nmiral 
fircnt  un  pas  de  ckrc,  car  ils  avaient  1'avantage  des  jcux.''  Comment. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  281 

they  may  one  day  take  your  place ;  and  as  they  can  not  yet 
spare  you,  do  not  expose  your  life  more  than  is  necessary. 
Beware  of  the  house  of  Guise ;  I  know  not  whether  I  ought  to 
say  the  same  of  the  queen-mother,  being  forbidden  to  judge 
evilly  of  my  neighbor;  but  she  has  given  so  many  marks  of 
her  ambition  that  a  little  distrust  is  pardonable."  It  was  two 
or  three  days  before  the  admiral  could  leave  the  army,  and 
when  he  reached  Orleans  all  was  over.  His  wife  had  been 
dead  twenty-four  hours,  leaving  him  with  three  boys  and  one 
girl.  For  a  time  the  bereaved  husband  was  inconsolable :  "  Oh, 
God,  what  have  I  done  ?"  he  exclaimed,  in  the  anguish  of  his 
heart ;  "  what  have  I  done  that  I  should  be  so  severely  chas- 
tised, so  overwhelmed  with  calamities  ?"  At  last  the  consola- 
tions of  religion  began  to  temper  his  sorrow.  "  Would  that  I 
might  lead  a  holier  life  and  present  a  better  example  of  godli- 
ness !  Most  Holy  Father,  look  upon  me,  if  it  please  thee,  and 
in  the  multitude  of  thy  mercies,  relieve  my  sufferings  !"  *  As 
soon  as  the  state  of  affairs  permitted  he  retired  to  his  estate 
at  Chatillon,  but  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  the. rest 
and  privacy  he  sought.  In  a  short  time  he  became  the  centre 
of  a  little  court.  The  crowd  was  so  great  that,  "  when  two 
gentlemen  left  by  one  door,  twenty  entered  by  another."  The 
admiral  was  so  beloved  that  he  was  overwhelmed  with  pres- 
ents, the  members  of  his  party  forcing  them  upon  him  not- 
withstanding his  protests.  "  It  is  only  right,"  they  urged,  "  to 
help  the  man  who  is  ruining  himself  for  love  of  us." 

Peace  found  the  finances  of  the  kingdom  in  a  very  dilapi- 
dated condition.  The  expenditure  was  eighteen  millions  of 
livres,  and  the  revenue  less  than  half  that  amount ;  besides 
which  there  were  arrears  due  to  the  foreign  auxiliaries — not 
only  those  whom  Conde  had  enrolled,  but  a  large  body  under 
the  Duke  of  Saxony,  who  claimed  five  months'  pay,  although 
they  had  not  drawn  a  sword  and  scarcely  entered  the  French 
territory.  These  reiters  were  a  terrible  scourge  to  France,  and 

*  Memoirs  of  Caspar  dc  Coligny  (Edin.  1844),  p.  11G. 


282  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

it  was  necessary  to  get  rid  of  them  at  any  sacrifice.  Davila 
paints  them  as  sweeping  through  the  country  like  a  frightful 
hurricane  (spaventosa  tempesta).  Armed  to  the  teeth  in  black 
mail,  drawn  up  in  squadrons  sixteen  deep  and  with  a  front  of 
thirty,  they  rode  down  the  weak  lines  of  the  French  cavalry. 
Fierce  in  demeanor,  brutal  in  habits,  as  intractable  as  they 
were  insolent,  and  a  nuisance  alike  to  friend  and  foe,  they  were 
insatiable  pillagers,  and  their  long  train  of  wagons  filled  with 
plunder  often  caused  irremediable  delay  in  the  march  of  the 
Huguenot  army.  None  knew  how  to  drive  a  hard  bargain 
better  than  they  did.  Castelnau  gives  a  curious  account  of 
his  negotiations  with  these  men,  who,  in  the  true  spirit  of 
mercenary  soldiers,  were  ready  to  turn  their  arms  against  any 
body,  if  they  were  paid  for  it.  The  only  means  of  raising 
money  to  meet  the  various  claims  upon  the  treasury  Avas  to 
sell  church  property,  which  was  done  to  the  amount  of 
100,000  crowns  rental.  Although  the  pope  had  given  his  con- 
sent to  this  alienation,  provided  the  money  was  employed  to 
extirpate  heresy,  the  Parliament  of  Paris  long  refused  to  regis- 
ter the  decree  authorizing  the  sale,  on  the  factious  ground  that 
"  things  consecrated  to  God  could  not  be  touched." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  283 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  THIRD  CIVIL  WAR 

[156S-1570.] 

State  of  the  Country — The  National  Party — Atrocities  and  Retaliation — 
L'Hopital's  Retirement — The  Catholic  League — League  of  Toulouse — 
The  New  Plot — The  Flight  to  Rbchelle — Aid  from  England — Anjou, 
Commander-in-Chief — Battle  of  Jarnac  —  Death  of  Conde — Henry  of 
Beam — Siege  of  Cognac — Junction  of  Duke  Wolfgang — Death  of  Brissac 
— Battle  of  Roche-Abeille — Siege  of  Poitiers — Moncontour — The  Admi- 
ral's letter  to  liis  Children — Siege  of  St.  Jean  D'Angely — Desmarais — The 
Great  March — Cruelties  at  Orthez,  Auxerre,  Orleans,  Cognat,  Aurillac — 
Culigny's  illness — Battle  of  Arnay  le  Due — Treaty  of  St.  Germains. 

SHORT  as  the  war:  had  been  it  was  full  of  horrors.  Wher- 
ever the  two  armies  passed  the  country  was  laid  waste.  The 
towns-people  were  comparatively  safe  behind  their  walls,  but 
the  peasantry  wer-e  between  two  millstones :  there  was  no  es- 
caping except  by  flight  to  the  woods  and  leaving  the  fields  un- 
cultivated, the  consequence  of  which  was  famine  and  pesti- 
lence. In  Schiller's  picturesque  language,""  men  became  sav- 
age like  their  countries."  *  After  the  proclamation  of  peace  a 
few  governors  did  all  they  could  to  check  the  disorders  of  the 
royal  troops  in  their  provinces.  Marshal  Damville,  command- 
ing in  Guienne,  Poitou,  and  Dauphiny,  issued  many  regulations 
to  pacify  the  country  and  restrain  the  license  of  the  soldiery, 
who  had  assumed  the  administrations  of  several  towns  by 
turning  out  the  magistrates  and  substituting  drum-head  jus- 
tice for  the  regular  courts  of  law.  They  appropriated  the 
contents  of  the  city  chests,  and  the  only  limits  to  their  extor- 
tions were  the  means  of  the  citizens  to  pay.  Many  large 

*  Die  Menschen  verwildcrten  mit  den  Landern. 


284:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

towns  had  been  half  deserted  by  their  inhabitants,  who  in 
despair  had  formed  into  volunteer  partisan  corps,  which  roamed 
over  the  country,  making  the  roads  unsafe,  and  plundering 
friend  and  foe  alike.  They  were  under  a  rude  kind  of  military 
discipline,  resembling  in  this  as  in  other  respects  the  brigand 
bands  of  modern  Greece  and  Southern  Italy.  To  remedy  this 
great  evil,  Damville  ordered  the  officers  and  soldiers  to  permit 
the  exiles  to  return  on  condition  that  they  gave  up  their  arms, 
gentlemen  and  others  having  the  privilege  of  wearing  swrords 
being  excepted.  Charles  himself  frequently  complained  that 
the  provincial  governors  did  not  attempt  to  carry  out  the 
treaty  of  Longjumeau.  On  the  31st  March  he  wrote  to  Con- 
de  regretting  that  the  edict  of  toleration  had  not  been  ob- 
served as  fully  as  he  had  desired,  and  declared  it  to  be  his 
wish  that  all  his  subjects,  without  respect  of  religion,  should 
be  protected  alike.  He  grieved  that  justice  was  not  so  purely 
administered  as  it  ought  to  be — a  state  of  things  he  would 
remedy  as  far  as  possible. 

If  it  should  be  urged  that  these  are  mere  words,  which 
cost  the  writer  nothing,  the  same  objection  can  hardly  be 
made  to  the  king's  letter  to  D'Humieres  of  the  30th  April, 
wherein  he  directed  that  those  who  had  left  their  homes  dur- 
ing the  late  troubles  should  not  be  hindered  from  returning 
and  living  in  liberty  according  to  the  edict.  There  are  also 
other  letters  extant  proving  the  reality  of  this  conciliatory 
feeling.  Thus  on  9th  May,  1568,  Charles  wrote  to  the 
mayor  of  Tours,  ordering  the  place  of  Reformed  worship  to 
be  removed  as  far  as  possible  from  Tours,  but  to  that  extent 
sanctioning  it.*  There  are  several  letters  on  the  same  sub- 
ject from  others,  and  in  a  considerate  tone ;  but  the  most 
remarkable  of  all  is  one  to  the  mayor  from  Francis  of  Bour- 
bon, Duke  of  Montpensier,  dated  15th  June,  1568,  and  refer- 
ring to  the  police  arrangements  in  Tours  for  the  approaching 


*  Archives  of  Tours.    Luzarche  (Victor) :  Lettres  historiques,  p.  81  (Tours, 
18G1). 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  285 

Fvte  Dieu :  "  Nevertheless,  if  you  know  that  they  are  likely 
to  be  obstinate  and  refuse  to  obey,  only  so  far  as  concerns 
the  decorations  of  the  streets  and  houses,  and  that  it  may 
cause  offense  and  disturbance,  there  will  be  no  harm  in  your 
tacitly  making  good  their  deficiencies,  according  to  your 
means,  without  showing  that  one  is  more  favored  than  an- 
other, with  the  assurance  that  you  will  be  able  to  arrange 
matters  so  wisely  that  every  thing  may  turn  out  to  the  hon- 
or and  glory  of  God."  * 

However  unfavorable  the  treaty  of  Longjumeau  may  have 
been  to  the  Huguenots,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  de- 
sire to  live  in  peace.  They  had  won  toleration  at  the  point 
of  the  sword ;  by  aiming  at  supremacy  they  would  risk  all 
they  had  gained.  War  could  advantage  them  but  little :  in 
peace  they  might  hope  to  extend  the  silent  conquests  of  their 
religion.  It  is  very  questionable,  however,  if  the  great  body 
of  the  Catholics,  or  their  leaders,  were  equally  desirous 
of  a  permanent  cessation  of  hostilities.  Peace  might  be  fatal 
to  the  ambitious  designs  of  the  house  of  Lorraine ;  Conde 
and  the  admiral  were  formidable  rivals  to  the  cardinal  and 
the  Italian  followers  of  the  queen-mother.  The  treaty  was 
the  work  of  the  moderate  section  of  the  royal  council,  to 
which  Marshal  Montmorency  had  given  the  influence  of  his 
name.  It  was  drawn  up  by  the  Chancellor  L'Hopital,  an- 
other member  of  the  same  party,  and  supported  by  the  bish- 
ops of  Orleans  and  Limoges.f  Their  task  had  not  been  with- 
out difficulty,  for  the  mere  rumor  of  peace  had  called  forth 
strong  protests  from  the  papal  and  Spanish  embassadors,  who 
almost  threatened  war  if  any  arrangement  were  come  to  with 
the  heretics ;  but  the  king  is  reported  to  have  made  a  reply 
that  quite  startled  them.J  This  is  just  what  we  should  ex- 

*  Archives  of  Tours.  Luzarche  (Victor) :  Lettres  /tisloriqties,  p.  89  (Tours, 
1861). 

t  Languor,  i.  58. 

J  "  Reclamarunt  autem  quantum  potucrnnt  legati  pontif.  Rom.  ct  rep. 
Ilisp.  irnmo  aiunt  cos  Regi  minitatos  essc  bellum,  si  haereticis  pacem  con- 
cederet,  scd  liegcm  ita  rcspondisse  ut  cos  tcrrucrit."  Languct,  i.  62. 


286  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

pect  from  Catherine,  Avhose  object  all  her  life  was  to  keep 
the  Spaniard  out  of  France.  The  Huguenots  were  the  truly 
national  party — the  stout  defenders  of  national  independence. 
They  were  the  first  to  assert  the  doctrine  of  non-intervention, 
although  they  did  not  act  up  to  their  theory.  This  was  the 
link  which  connected  them  with  the  moderate  section  of  the 
Catholic  party.  While  their  antagonists  esteemed  Guise 
and  Philip  II.  and  the  pope  far  more  than  they  did  their  king, 
the  Huguenots  Avcre  especially  Frenchmen.  They  were  loyal 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  as  were  the  English  Catholics, 
who,  under  a  popish  admiral,  drove  the  Armada  from  the 
seas. 

But  the  "  politicians,"  as  they  are  usually  called,  were  in 
advance  of  their  age:  the  time  for  moderation  had  not  yet 
come.  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  still  raised  his  voice  for 
extermination,  and  the  pride  of  both  Catherine  and  Charles 
had  been  deeply  wounded  by  the  undignified  flight  from 
Meaux.  Philip  II.,  who  dreaded  to  see  France  at  peace, 
continued  to  intrigue  with  the  most  bigoted  of  the  king's 
advisers.  Alva,  too,  reminded  the  queen-mother  that  it  was 
"  much  better  to  have  a  kingdom  ruined  in  preserving  it  for 
God  and  the  king  by  war,  than  to  have  it  kept  entire  with- 
out war,  to  the  profit  of  the  devil  and  his  heretical  follow- 
ers." *  In  addition  to  all  this,  the  peace  had  made  Catherine 
unpopular  even  among  those  of  her  own  religion ;  both  she 
aad  the  king  were  most  absurdly  suspected  of  heresy,  and, 
adds  Claude  Haton,  "  it  is  certain  that  they  were  the  sup- 
port and  prop  of  the  rebel  Huguenots."  Speaking  of  the  Lent 
Sermons  in  this  year  (1568)  he  says,  that  "the  clergy  from 
the  pulpits  taxed  the  king,  his  mother,  and  the  council,  with 
being  by  the  said  peace  the  '  cause  of  the  entire  ruin  of  the 
kingdom  and  of  the  Catholic  religion."  This  language  was 
reported  to  their  majesties,  who  immediately  ordered  the 
clergy  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  not  abuse  their  sovereign, 

*  Gaclmrd :  Corresp.  de  Pldlippe  II.,  vol.  i.  p.  GOO  (4to.  Bruxellc.",  1848). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  287 

under  pain  of  the  severest  punishment.  But  if  the  preachers 
moderated  their  tone  toward  the  king  and  the  queen-moth- 
er, they  became  more  violent  in  their  attacks  upon  the  Hu- 
guenots. From  every  pulpit  fanatical  monks  hounded  on 
their  already  too  eager  listeners  to  farther  deeds  of  blood, 
not  only  by  proclaiming  that  faith  ought  not  to  be  kept  with 
heretics,  but  that  it  was  a  meritorious  act  to  slay  them. 
The  system  of  forced  baptisms  was  continued,  the  rights  of 
the  individual  being  as  little  regarded  under  Charles  IX.  in 
1568  as  under  Louis  XIV.  at  the  close  of  the  following  cen- 
tury. At  Provins,  a  babe  six  weeks  old  was  carried  to  the 
church  and  christened,  the  mother  being  taken  thither  in  the 
custody  of  the  police,  and  the  father  left  in  the-  hands  of  the 
soldiers  until  the  ceremony  was  over.  In  the  municipal 
archives  of  Tallard  we  read :  "  Paid  six  sols  to  a  royal 
sergeant  sent  by  the  deputy  bailiff  of  Gap  to  publish  an 
order  that  the  children  who  had  been  baptized  in  the  new 
religion  should  be  rebaptized  in  the  Catholic  religion."  *  At 
Dieppe,  the  midwives  were  required  to  make  a  declaration 
within  two  hours  of  the  birth  of  every  Huguenot  infant,  who 
was  taken  away  and  christened  publicly. 

The  petty  annoyances  and  vexations  to  which  the  Reformed 
were  subjected,  were  at  times  harder  to  bear  than  actual 
persecution.  In  tfie  one  case  pride  and  conscience  might 
make  the  severest  torture  endurable ;  •  in  the  other,  there 
was  all  the  consciousness  of  the  martyr  without  a  sufficient 
injury  to  awaken  the  sympathy  of  others.  The  annoyances 
inflicted  by  the  municipal  authority  on  the  Huguenots  of 
Provins  must  have  been  to  many  more  intolerable  than  any 
amount  of  physical  pain.  They  were  forbidden  to  take 
lodgers,  to  assemble  in  any  manner,  or  to  leave  their  houses 
after  7  P.M.  in  the  summer  and  5  P.M.  in  the  winter.  They 
were  not  allowed  to  walk  on  the  ramparts  by  night  or  by  day, 


*  Archives  of  Provins :  Registrcs  de  Baptemc.  CImrronnet :  Gnerres  <le 
Reliyion,  p.  60.     Comptes  consulaircs  do  Gap,  1569. 


288  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

under  pain  of  death ;  and  they  could  not  take  a  stroll  into 
the  country  without  the  written  pass  of  the  officer  of  the 
gate.*  At  Amiens  the  privilege  of  keeping  inns  was  taken 
from  them ;  they  were  turned,  out  of  such  of  their  houses  as 
happened  to  be  near  the  walls  or  the  gates ;  they  could  not 
meet  more  than  three  together,  and  were  liable  to  be  hanged 
if  found  in  the  streets  between  seven  at  night  and  six  in  the 
morning.f 

During  this  "  peace  which  was  no  peace,"  as  La  Noue 
says,  more  than  2000  Huguenots. —  surely  an  exaggerated 
number  —  were  put  to  death  at  Amiens,  Bourges,  Rouen, 
and  other  places.  The  teaching  of  the  clergy  had  produced 
the  desired  effect.  Under  the  pretext  of  imaginary  crimes, 
Sigognes,  governor  of  Dieppe,  arrested  all  whom  he  suspect- 
ed, or  drove  them  out  of  the  town.  The  soldiers  insulted 
the  women  as  they  went  to  their  meetings ;  the  men  inter- 
fered to  protect  them ;  there  was  a  riot,  and  the  governor 
always  sided  with  the  ruffians.  Open  wrar  seemed  better 
than  such  insecurity.  M.  de  Cypierre  was  murdered,  with 
thirty-six  of  his  companions  and  suite,  as  he  was  passing 
through  Provence.  Remonstrances  and  appeals  for  justice 
were  vainly  made  to  the  government,  which  affected  to  be 
more  powerless  than  it  really  was.  Under  these  circumstances, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  Huguenots  again  took  up  those 
arms  in  self-defense  which  they  had  laid  aside  in  accordance 
Avith  the  treaty ;  no  wonder  that  in  their  fury  they  once 
more  defiled  the  altars,  destroyed  the  churches,  and  perpe- 
trated a  thousand  retaliatory  atrocities.  Briquemaut,  one  of 
their  leaders,  cheered  them  on  to  murder,  wearing  a  string 
of  priests'  ears  round  his  neck.  On  the  other  side,  Louis  de 
Bourbon,  Duke  of  Montpensier,  far  surpassed  all  others  in 
barbarity,  even  to  the  disgust  of  Charles  himself,  who  was 
not  over-nice  in  such  matters.  One  punishment,  which  he 
was  proud  of  inventing,  is  so  foul  and  horrible  that  wo  dare 

*  Claude  Ilaton,  p.  534.  f  Thierry  :  Tiers-titat,  ii.  720. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  289 

not  name  it.  Correro,  tho  Venetian  embassador,  describes 
the  whole  population  as  in  a  state  of  fury. 

Pope  Pius  V.  actively  supported  the  fanatical  party  *in 
their  opposition  to  the  treaty  of  1568,  by  letters  of  advice 
and  pecuniary  aid.  On  the  5th  of  July  he  wrote  to  the  Duke 
of  Nemours,  congratulating  him  on  being  the  first  who,  in 
the  cities  of  Lyons  and  Grenoble,  refused  to  observe  the  con- 
ditions of  Longjumeau,  "  as  fatal  to  the  Catholic  religion  and 
derogatory  to  the  king's  dignity."  "Would  to  God,"  he 
continues,  "  that  all  the  great  ones  of  the  kingdom  and  all 
governors  of  provinces  would  imitate  your  example."  * 

Meanwhile,  great  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  royal 
council.  By  slow  degrees  the  Italian  party  had  recovered 
their  supremacy,  and  were  advocating  the  most  violent 
measures.  The  Moderate  party  was  listened  to  with  impa- 
tience. "  Even  the  king  no  longer  dared  give  his  opinion," 
says  L'Hopital,  who  felt  it  a  duty  to  resign  his  office  rather 
than  countenance  measures  of  which  he  disapproved.  He 
was  succeeded  for  a  brief  interval  by  Jean  de  Morvilliers. 

In  the  middle  of  1568  the  foundations  were  laid  of  that 
formidable  League  which  shook  the  throne  and  brought 
France  to  the  brink  of  destruction.  On  the  25th  June,  "The 
Associates  of  the  Christian  and  Royal  League  of  the  province 
of  Champagne "  met  and  took  a  solemn  oath  "  to  maintain 
the  Catholic  Church  in  France,  and  preserve  the  crown  in  the 
house  of  Valois,  so  long  as  it  shall  govern  according  to  the 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  religion."  f  Seventy  years  later  anoth- 
er famous  league  was  signed  "  for  the  defense  of  religion," 
which  brought  a  king  to  the  scaffold.  Those  who  admire 
the  Scottish  Covenant  should  not  find  fault  with  a  Romish 


*  Lader dill  Ann.  J-'ccles.  xxiii.  125,  in  Sismondi,  xix.  p.  21. 

t  Journal  de  Lesloile.  The  Orange  Societies  were  originally  bound  by  a 
similar  oath  to  "pay  allegiance  to  the  king  and  his  successors  so  long  as 
they  support  the  Protestant  ascendancy."  The  loynl  Catholics  threatened 
to  shut  up  Charles  in  a  convent,  and  put  another  in  his  place,  if  he  tried  to 
protect  the  Huguenots.  De  Thon,  v.  p.  516. 

T 


290  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

league  which  brought  two  kings  of  France  to  a  sudden  and 
bloody  end. 

^.t  Toulouse  a  somewhat  similar  league  had  been  formed, 
and  a  proclamation  issued  against  the  followers  of  the  new 
religion.  In  that  singular  document,  which  was  founded  on 
a  bull  issued  by  Pius  V.  in  March,  1568,  the  Protestants  are 
described  as  "  atheists,  men  living  without  God,  without 
faith,  and  without  law."  Jesus  Christ  himself  inspires  all 
good  Catholics  with  "  the  idea  of  assuming  the  cross,  taking 
up  arms,  and  preparing  a  war  like  Mattathias  and  the  other 
Maccabees."  The  faithful  are  reminded  of  the  heretical 
Albigenses  destroyed  in  that  very  district  to  the  number  of 
60,000;  and  are  exhorted  to  pursue  with  the  same  fervor 
these  "  new  enemies  of  God,"  and  to  show  them  no  mercy. 
If  the  crusaders  die  in  the  expedition,  "  their  blood  will  serve 
them  as  a  second  baptism,  washing  out  all  their  sins  ;  and 
they  will  go  with  the  other  martyrs  straight  to  paradise." 
The  qualifications  for  taking  up  the  cross  in  this  holy  war 
were  "  to  confess  their  sins  and  arm  themselves  with  the 
body  and  blood  of  our  Lord ;"  but  these  arms  were  not 
thought  sufficient.  "  If  the  capitouls  [magistrates]  will  lend 
a  few  cannons,  things  will  go  on  all  the  better.  Resolved  at 
Toulouse,  21st  September,  1568.  The  above  is  done  under  the 
authority  of  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope."  Priests  were  to  be 
the  captains  of  this  "holy  army  of  faith,"  and  its  motto  was: 
Eamus  nos  /  moriamur  cum  Christo.* 

Immediately  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  Longju- 
meau  the  Protestant  army  had  been  disbanded,  and  the 
reiters  in  their  pay  had  returned  to  Germany,  not  without  ex- 
cesses on  the  road;  but  under  various  excuses  the  royal 
army,  including  the  Swiss  mercenaries  and  the  Italian  auxil- 
iaries, was  still  kept  on  foot.  The  motive  soon  became  ap- 
parent: the  reactionary  party  meditated  a  bold  stroke  that 
should  cripple,  if  not  entirely  crush,  the  Huguenot  party. 

*  Doni  Vaisscttc  :  Hist.  Lanyuedoc,  tome  v.  p.  216,  note. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  291 

Conde,  the  admiral  and  other  chiefs  were  to  be  seized, 
and  of  the  fate  intended  for  some  of  them  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  Only  two  months  earlier,  Alva's  "  blood  council " 
had  condemned  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn  to  a  violent  death. 
As  early  as  May,  all  the  bridges  along  the  Loire  were  guarded. 
This  may  have  been  a  mere  matter  of  police  in  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  country ;  but  the  Huguenots  very  reasonably 
considered  it  as  a  means  of  controlling  their  movements  and 
preventing  their  escape,  if  danger  threatened  them.  Their 
leaders  were  widely  separated;  Andelot  was  in  Brittany,  La 
Rochefoucault  in  Angouleme,  D'Acier  in  Languedoc,  Bruni- 
quet  and  Montglas  in  Gascony,  Genlis  and  Mouy  in  Picardy, 
Montgomery  in  Normandy,  the  Admiral  at  Tanlay,  and 
Conde  at  his  castle  of  Noyers  in  Burgundy.  These  two 
places  are  so  near  that  tradition  speaks  of  a  subterranean 
passage  between  them.  Tanlay  is  placed  in  a  secluded  spot 
between  Tonnerre  and  Montbard.  On  a  splendid  chimney- 
piece  in  the  large  hall  may  still  be  seen  a  head  of  Coligny  in 
a  plumed  helmet,  admirably  carved  in  delicately  tinted  mar- 
ble.* 

The  admiral  had  gone  to  this  charming  retreat,  to  consult 
with  his  brother  to  whom  it  belonged,  and  who  had  joined  him 
there.  The  aspect  of  affairs  was  threatening.  The  news 
which  they  had  received  from  their  friends  at  court,  as  well  as 
the  frequent  movements  of  troops  to  the  Loire,  were  enough  to 
fill  them  with  suspicion.  Attended  by  fifty  horsemen,  they  rode 
over  to  Noyers,  and  while  there  an  intercepted  dispatch  from 
Tavannes,  the  governor  of  the  province,  bade  them  in  ambigu- 
ous but  significant  language  look  to  their  safety :  "Le  cerf  cst 
aux  toiles,  la  chasse  est  preparee."  With  all  secrecy  the 
Huguenot  leaders  prepared  for  flight,  and  though  encumbered 
by  women  and  children,  succeeded  in  escaping  to  Rochelle 
(August,  1568).  A  ford  near  Sancerre  had  been  left  un- 

*  On  the  vaulted  ceiling  of  the  Tour  de  la  Ligue  is  a  striking  fresco  repre- 
senting Conde  as  Mars,  Birague  as  Vulcan,  Catherine  as  Juno,  Margaret 
of  Valois  as  a  Muse,  with  other  well-known  historic  characters. 


292  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

guarded,  and  by  it  the  fugitives  were  able  to  cross  the  Loire, 
and  were  protected  from  pursuit  by  a  sudden  rise  of  the 
waters.?5  "It  touched  the  hearts  of  all  men  with  sincere 
commiseration,"  says  Matthieu,  "  to  witness  the  lamentable 
plight  in  which  the  first  prince  of  the  blood  traveled.  The 
heat  of  the  weather  was  intense ;  the  princess,  being  great 
Avith  child,  traveled  in  a  litter ;  the  prince  had  three  little 
children  in  the  cradle ;  besides  which  he  was  accompanied  by 
the  admiral  and  his  family,  by  Andelot  and  his  wife,  there 
being  altogether  a  great  number  of  children  and  nurses. 
Their  escort  consisted  of  only  150  men." 

The  enemy  followed  them  so  closely  as  to  come  in  sight  of 
the  fugitives,  but  the  swollen  river  lay  between  them.  The 
Cardinal  of  Chatillon,  at  that  time  living  quietly  in  his  episco- 
pal palace  at  Beauvais,  received  timely  warning  and  escaped 
to  England.  Joan  of  Albret,  Queen  of  Navarre,  who  was 
threatened  in  her  own  estates,  also  sought  a  refuge  within 
those  walls  which  already  sheltered  the  Prince  of  Conde. 
She  brought  her  son  Henry  with  her,  then  a  boy  of  15,  and  a 
force  of  4000  men,  the  nucleus  of  an  army  that  soon  swelled 
to  more  formidable  dimensions  than  that  which  had  been  dis- 
banded a  few  months  before.  The  command  was  offered  to 
Henry,  but  graciously  refused  by  him  in  favor  of  his  uncle 
Conde. 

The  position  of  the  Huguenot  chiefs  was  full  of  peril ;  but 
they  saw  clearly  that  they  were  standing  in  the  breach  of 
Protestantism,  and  fighting  not  merely  their  own  battle  but  the 
battle  of  the  Reformed  religion  in  every  country.  In  Flan- 
ders Alva  was  not  only  trampling  out  Protestantism  with 

*  Of  this  passage,  Jean  de  la  Haize,  orator  of  La  Rochelle,  said :  "  La 
faveur  du  ciel  s'etant  de'claree  si  miraculeusement  pour  votre  conservation, 
que  la  delivrance  des  cnfans  d'Israel  par  la  Mer  Eouge  n'cst  point  plus  ad- 
mirable et  extraordinaire."  Second  Discours  bref,  in  Arcere,  i.  p.  3G9, 
note.  Villegotnblain  ^Mem.  i.  p.  16),  says  they  crossed  "  near  Les  Rosiers," 
four  leagues  below  Sauraur,  which  must  be  a  mistake.  A  spot  just  above 
Cosne  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  a  lineal  descendant  of  one  of  the  sharers  of 
this  flight.  . 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  293 

his  iron  heel,  but  usurping  the  rights  of  the  Prince  of  Orange. 
This  was  a  matter  that  touched  Conde  nearly,  for  he  too  was 
thought  worthy  of  the  hatred  of  "  the  Demon  of  the  South." 
All  the  nobility  indeed  were,  more  or  less,  affected  by  any  at- 
tack on  the  rights  of  the  princes  of  the  blood;  but  the  majori- 
ty willfully  shut  their  eyes  against  it.  The  meeting  at  Ba- 
yonne  was  bearing  fruit.  In  February,  1568,  the  Spanish 
Inquisition  solemnly  condemned  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Netherlands  to  death  as  heretics — a  few  persons  only  being 
excepted  by  name.  Nor  was  this  condemnation  a  mere  idle 
form,  for  ten  days  later  Philip  II.  issued  a  proclamation, 
ratifying  the  sentence  and  ordering  it  to  be  carried  into  in- 
stant execution  without  regard  to  sex,  age,  or  condition. 
The  eloquent  historian  of  the  Dutch  republic  has  told  us  how 
the  king  was  obeyed,  and  unveiled  the  perfidious  designs  of 
the  Spanish  cabinet.  These  were  strongly  suspected  by  the 
French  Huguenots,  who  had  not  the  opportunity  we  possess 
of  reading  the  secret  dispatches  of  Philip  and  his  ministers. 
But  Conde  and  Coligny  knew  quite  enough  to  make  them  sus- 
picious :  they  knew  that  if  the  Flemish  Protestants  were 
crushed,  their  turn  would  come  next ;  and  they  not  only  pre- 
vented the  French  government  from  assisting  Alva,  but  by 
their  attitude  made  the  King  of  Spain  unwilling  to  send  the 
reinforcements  to  the  Low  Countries,  which  Alva  so  much 
needed  to  complete  his  crusade.  Had  they  done  no  more  than 
tins,  they  would  have  earned  the  eternal  gratitude  of  all 
Protestantism.  By  paralyzing  Alva  at  this  moment  the  Re- 
formed religion  on  the  Continent  was  saved.  We  may  even  go 
farther,  and  say  that  our  own  liberties  were  dependent  on  this 
Huguenot  movement.  The  French  leaders  had  heard  that  the 
Protestant  Queen  of  England  was  threatened,  that  a  bill  of 
excommunication  was  to  be  fulminated  against  her,  that  a 
hundred  daggers  were  preparing  to  be  plunged  into  her 
heart.  Though  Elizabeth  never  cordially  helped  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  with  her  lofty  monarchical  notions  looked  coldly  on 
them  and  the  Flemings  as  rebels,  yet  a  common  enemy  and  a 


294  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

common  danger  drew  them  together,  and  for  a  time  smoothed 
away  all  differences.  She  forwarded  to  Kochelle  six  pieces  of 
artillery  with  their  ammunition,  and  a  sum  of  100,000  ange- 
lots  (50,000?.)  with  a  promise  of  more,*  and  permitted  Henry 
Champernon,f  a  near  kinsman  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  then 
only  seventeen  years  old,  to  raise  a  troop  of  100  gentlemen 
volunteers,  with  which  he  passed  over  into  France.  De  Thou 
describes  them  as  "  a  gallant  company,  nobly  mounted  and  ac- 
coutred, having  on  their  colors  the  motto :  Flnem  det  mihi 
virtus:  Let  valor  decide  the  contest."  They  fought  at 
Jarnac  and  again  at  Moncontour,  but  beyond  what  Raleigh 
says  himself,  there  is  no  trace  of  them  in  history. \ 

The  fanatical  party,  not  content  with  drawing  the  sword, 
threw  away  the  scabbard.  The  great  want  of  the  court  was 
money,  and  in  July — the  treaty  of  Longjumeau  had  only  been 
signed  in  March — the  queen-mother  obtained  a  papal  bull, 
permitting  her  (as  we  have  seen)  to  alienate  church  property 
to  the  amount  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  francs,  on  condition 
that  the  money  was  employed  in  the  extirpation  of  Hu- 
guenotry.  It  does  not  appear  that  any  of  the  money  was 
spent  as  Pius  V.  stipulated,  and  with  a  view  to  hide  the  mis- 
appropriation and  satisfy  the  urgent  demands  of  the  pope,  the 
king  issued  several  edicts  in  September,  1568,  completely  an- 
nulling that  of  January,  forbidding  the  public  celebration  of 
the  Reformed  worship  under  pain  of  death,  and  ordering  the 
ministers  to  leave  the  kingdom  within  a  fortnight.  In  this 
revocation  of  religious  privileges  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  influ- 
ence of  the  more  violent  members  of  the  privy  council — the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  Rene  de  Biragues. 

Henry  of  Anjou,  a  youth  only  fifteen  years  old,  was  once 
more  placed  at  the  head  of  the  royal  army,  with  Tavannes  by 

*  In  the  Cotton  MSS.  (Caligula  E,  vi.  fol.  90)  there  is  an  inventory  of 
jewels  and  trinkets  mortgaged  to  Elizabeth  by  Joan  of  Navarre,  Conde',  and 
the  admiral,  12th  June,  1569. 

t  Champernon  married  a  daughter  of  the  famous  Count  of  Montgomery. 

J  Raleigh's  Works,  vi.  pp.  157-158,  211. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  295 

his  side  to  direct  the  military  operations.  Tavannes's  object 
was  to  confine  the  Protestants  to  Poitou  and  Saintonge,  while 
the  Huguenot  plan  was  to  march  into  Burgundy  and  meet 
the  troops  which  the  Prince  of  Orange  was  levying  for  their 
support.  But  the  winter  of  1568  passed  away  without  any 
striking  event,  the  Huguenot  army  losing  5000  men  through 
illness  and  the  inclemency  of  the  season.  The  cold  was  so  in- 
tense that  the  water  in  a  caldron  set  before  the  fire  was 
frozen  at  the  back  while  boiling  at  the  front.  All  the  rivers 
were  cartable,  and  wine  became  so  solid  in  the  casks  that  it 
was  cut  up  and  carried  away  in  sacks.* 

As  soon  as  the  weather  broke,  the  two  armies  were  once 
more  in  the  field,  and  on  the  13th  March,  1569,  came  into 
collision  at  Jarnac  on  the  banks  of  the  Charente,  between  An- 
gouleme  and  Cognac.  There  is  still  the  same  wide  plain,  un- 
der tillage,  with  a  cluster  of  houses  in  one  corner,  that  could 
easily  be  turned  into  a  barricaded  fort.  It  is  near  a  little  hill, 
at  whose  foot  still  flows  the  sluggish  brook  on  whose  banks  the 
chief  struggle  occurred.  The  Huguenot  force  had  been  inju- 
diciously divided,  while  that  under  Anjou  had  been  reinforced 
by  2200  reiters  commanded  by  the  Rheingrave  and  Bassom- 
pierre.  It  was  Anjou's  plan  to  prevent  the  junction  of  Con- 
de's  forces,  but  he  was  disappointed  in  this  by  the  prince's  sud- 
den march  to  Niort,  thence  by  St.  Jean  d'Angely  to  Cognac, 
and  next  day  to  Jarnac,  where  he  met  Andelot  with  the  ad- 
vanced guard  of  cavalry,  supported  by  four  guns.  The  fol- 
lowing morning,  Conde,  accompanied  by  the  admiral  and  his 
brother,  advanced  with  all  the  cavalry  to  reconnoitre  Anjou's 
position,  and  had  the  audacity  to  offer  battle.  The  king's 
brother  declined  the  offer  and  moved  away  in  the  direction 
of  Cognac,  where  he  was  again  met  by  Conde  with  the  second 
division,  the  admiral  being  left  with  the  first  at  Jarnac.  The 

*  Mczeray  describes  the  frost  of  1570-71  as  lasting  three  months,  during 
which  the  fruit-trees,  even  in  Languedoc,  were  frozen  down  to  their  roots. 
In  March,  1572,  Smith,  the  English  embassador,  writes  from  Blois,  com- 
plaining of  "  thirty  days'  continued  frost  and  snow." 


296  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

result  of  these  marchings  and  counter-marchings  was  that  the 
Huguenot  cavalry  was  taken  by  surprise,  when  the  infantry 
was  so  far  off  a$  to  be  quite  unserviceable.  Conde  stood  his 
ground  manfully,  but  what  could  1500  men  do  against  a  force 
twice  as  strong  ?  He  made  desperate  efforts  to  cut  his  way 
through  the  dense  ranks  of  the  enemy,  though  his  leg  had 
been  broken  by  a  kick  from  a  horse  ridden  by  one  of  his 
suite.*  At  last  his  horse  fell,  and  he  lay  at  the  mercy  of  his 
foes.  Being  recognized  by  two  gentlemen,  he  called  to  one  of 
them :  "  Ho  !  D'Argence,  my  friend,  save  my  life,  and  I  will 
give  you  one  hundred  thousand  crowns."  D'Argence  prom- 
ised, and  raised  the  prince  from  the  ground.  Seeing  the 
Duke  of  Anjou  approach,  Conde  said :  "  There  is  Monseign- 
eur's  troop;  I  am  a  dead  man."  "No,  my  lord"  replied 
D'Argence ;  "  cover  your  face,"  for  he  had  taken  off  his  hel- 
met. At  this  moment  up  rode  Montesquieu,  captain  of  the 
duke's  Swiss  guard,  who,  recognizing  the  prisoner,  foully  shot 
him  in  the  back  of  the  head.  "  Now  I  hope  you  are  satisfied," 
exclaimed  the  prince,  and  they  were  his  last  words.f  It  is 
supposed  that  orders  had  been  given  to  spare  none  of  the  Hu- 
guenot leaders.  The  celebrated  La  Noue,  who  was  made 
prisoner  in  this  battle,  owed  his  life  to  the  intervention  of  the 
veteran  Martigues, "  the  soldier  without  fear."  The  Scotch- 
man who  had  murdered  the  constable  at  the  battle  of  St. 
Denis  himself  met  with  a  similar  end,  while  other  prisoners 
like  him  were  slain  in  cold  blood.  A  little  episode  of  this  un- 
equal fight  shows  the  sterling  stuff  of  which  the  Huguenot 
army  was  composed.  When  Conde  was  thrown  from  his 
horse,  among  those  who  made  a  living  rampart  of  their  bodies 
to  protect  him  was  an  old  man,  Lavergne  de  Tressan  by  name, 
who,  with  twenty-five  young  men,  his  sons,  grandsons,  and 
nephews,  fought  desperately  until  he  and  fifteen  of  the  heroic 
band  were  killed. 

*  Leicester  to  Randolph  (March  13),  blames  Conde's  "overmuch  rash- 
ness," and  says  his  arm  was  broken  by  a  shot.     Wright's  Elizabeth,  i.  313. 
t  Champollion-Fige'ac :  Documents  hist,  inedits,  iv.  p.  486  (4to.  Paris,  1848)> 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  297 

Conde's  body  was  treated  with  the  utmost  contumely. 
"  We  found  him,"  says  the  biographer  of  the  Duke  of  Mont- 
pensier,  "  lying  across  an  ass,  and  the  Baron  de  Magnac  asked 
me  if  I  should  know  him  again?  But  as  he  had  one  eye 
beaten  out  of  his  head,  and  was  otherwise  much  disfigured,  I 
knew  not  what  to  answer.  The  corpse  was  brought  in  be- 
fore all  the  princes  and  lords,  who  ordered  the  face  to  be 
washed,  and  recognized  him  perfectly.  They  then  put  him 
into  a  sheet,  and  he  was  carried  before  a  man  on  horseback 
to  the  castle  of  Jarnac,  where  the  king's  brother  went  to 
lodge."  Thence  the  remains  of  the  ill-fated  prince  were  re- 
moved to  the  church,  and  afterward  given  up  to  his  friends. 
La  Noue,  who  knew  Conde  well,  thus  writes  his  epitaph :  "  In 
boldness  or  courtesy  no  man  of  his  time  excelled  him.  Of 
speech  he  was  eloquent,  rather  by  nature  than  by  art.  He 
was  liberal  and  affable  unto  all  men,  and  withal  an  excellent 
captain,  although  he  loved  peace.  He  bare  himself  better  in 
adversity  than  in  prosperity."  In  1818,  a  monument  was 
raised  to  his  memory  on  the  field  of  Jarnac,  with  the  inscrip- 
tion: 

me 

NLTANDA   NECE    OCCCBUIT 
ANNO    M  D  L  X  I  X    XI  A.  IIS    XXXIX 

LUDOVICUS   BOKBONIUS   CONDUITS, 

QUI   IN   OMNIBUS   BELLI   PACISQCE   ARTIBCS 

NULLI    SECUNDUS  J 

VIRTCTE,    INGENIO,    8OLERTIA 

NATALICM     SPLENDOREM     AQUAVIT  J 

VIR    MELIORI    EXITU    UIGN0S. 

Great  was  the  exultation  at  court  when  the  news  of  this 
brilliant  success  arrived,*  and  the  nominal  conqueror,  Henry 
of  Anjou,  was  extolled  in  language  that  would  have  been  ex- 
travagant if  applied  to  a  Marlborough  or  Napoleon.  He 
fought  well,  and  had  a  horse  killed  under  him ;  but  Charles 

*  When  Charles  heard  the  news  of  Conde's  death  "  surgit  e  lecto,  properat 
nd  summam  aerlem,  nlta  vocc  depromtt  canticum  Te  Deitm,  jubet  campanas 
omncs  golennitcr  pulsari." 


298  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BAKTHOLOMEW. 

was  not  far  wrong  when  he  asked  whether  Tavannes  and 
Biron  were  not  the  real  heroes  of  the  day?  A  solemn  Te 
Deum  was  chanted  for  the  victory  at  Jarnac,  and  the  captured 
standards,  twelve  in  number,  were  sent  to  Rome  as  a  present 
to  the  pope.  Pius  V.,  who  in  earlier  days  had  exercised  the 
office  of  inquisitor-general  in  Lombardy  with  fanatical  severity, 
wrote  to  congratulate  the  king  on  the  victory,  bidding  him 
"  be  deaf  to  every  prayer,  to  trample  upon  every  tie  of  blood 
and  affection,  and  to  extirpate  heresy  down  to  its  smallest 
fibres  (etiam  radicum  fibras  funditus  evellere)."  He  pointed 
to  the  example  of  Saul  slaying  the  Amaiekites,  and  condemned 
every  feeling  of  clemency  as  a  temptation  of  Satan.*  This 
was  the  same  pope  who,  having  sent  military  aid  to  the  French 
Catholics,  blamed  their  commander  "for  not  obeying  his 
orders  to  slay  instantly  every  heretic  that  fell  into  his 
hands  :"f  and  yet  he  would  complain  with  all  sincerity  that 
"  but  for  the  support  of  prayer,  the  cares  of  the  papacy  would 
be  more  than  he  could  endure."  Contemporary  writers  tell 
us  that  "  he  performed  his  religious  duties  most  devoutly,  fre- 
quently with  tears ;"  and  always  rose  from  his  knees  with  the 
conviction  that  his  prayers  had  been  heard.  Such  are  the  con- 
tradictions in  the  human  heart ! 

When  the  news  of  the  victory  reached  Provins,  there  was 

*  One  of  the  medals  struck  nt  Rome  to  commemorate  this  victory  repre- 
sents the  pope  and  cardinals  kneeling  and  receiving  from  heaven  an  answer 
to  their  prayers :  the  inscription  is  from  the  Te  Deum :  "  Fecit  potentiam  in 
brachio  suo  ;  dispersit  superbos."  Bonanni :  Numism.  Pontif.  Rain.  No.  14 
(2  vols.  fol.  Rom»,  1699). 

t  Catena,  Vita  di  Pio  V.  p.  85.  He  wrote  to  Catherine  to  fight  the  ene- 
mies of  God  "ad  internecionem  usque  ;"  and  to  Anjou  to  show  himself  "o//i- 
nibus  incxorabilem."  He  describes  Coligny  as  "  exsecrcmdum  ilium  ac  detest- 
abilem  hominem,  si  modo  homo  appellandus  est."  See  also  No.  xi.  to  Charles 
(Gth  March,  1569),  in  Potter's  Lettres  de  Pio  V.  (8vo.  Paris,  1826),  where 
"  punire  hsereticos  eorumque  duces  omni  severitate"  will  hardly  support  the 
writer  in  the  Dublin  Review  (October,  1865),  who  contends  that  the  Church 
exulted  over  the  St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  not  because  the  victims  were 
heretics,  but  because  they  were  rebels.  In  the  prayer  ordered  by  Clement 
IX.  to  be  read  on  1st  May,  Pius  V.  is  described  as  elect  "ad  conterendos 
ecclesiaj  hostes." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  299 

the  usual  holiday:  the  shops  were  closed,  the  houses  decorated, 
and  a  general  procession  of  clergy  and  laity,  bearing  relics  and 
bannei*s,  marched  through  the  crowded  streets  to  the  Jacobin's 
convent  to  hear  the  Lent  preacher.  He  was  an  apt  pupil  of 
the  foul-mouthed  Father  Ivole.  "With  thundering  voice,  and 
animated  gestures,  he  declared  the  prince's  death  to  be  a 
divine  judgment,  and  described  him  as  "the  chief  of  robbers, 
murderers,  thieves,  rebels,  Huguenots,  and  heretics  in  France ; 
a  prince  degenerated  from  the  virtues  and  religion  of  his  an- 
cestors, a  man  foresworn,  guilty  of  treason  against  God  and 
the  king,  a  profaner  of  temples,  a  breaker  of  images,  a  de- 
stroyer of  altars,  a  contemner  of  the  sacraments,  a  disturber  of 
the  peace,  a  betrayer  of  his  country,  and  a  renegade  French- 
man," with  many  other  flowers  of  monkish  rhetoric,  which -the 
chronicler  Haton  forbears  to  quote. 

Although  the  loss  of  the  Prince  of  Conde  was,  considering 
his  rank  and  influence,  a  great  blow  to  the  French  Protestants, 
they  comforted  themselves  by  the  thought  that  it  was  "  rather 
an  advancement  than  a  hindrance  to  their  affairs,"  as  Sir  Wal- 
ter Raleigh  said,  in  consequence  of  his  "  over-confidence  in  his 
own  courage."  Coligny  naturally  succeeded  to  the  command 
of  the  Huguenot  forces,  which  soon  recovered  from  the  disas- 
ter at  Jarnac.  While  they  were  rallying  and  reorganizing  at 
Niort,  Joan  of  Albret  suddenly  appeared  in  their  camp,  bring- 
ing with  her  two  youths  of  fifteen.  One  of  them  was  her 
nephew  Henry,  son  of  the  murdered  prince ;  the  other  her  own 
son,  Henry  of  Beam,  destined  after  many  struggles  to  become 
Henry  IV.  of  France.  Addressing  the  assembled  captains  in 
a  tone  well  calculated  to  raise  their  drooping  spirits,  she  said : 
"  I  offer  you  my  son,  who  burns  with  a  holy  ardor  to  avenge 
the  death  of  the  prince  we  all  regret.  Behold  also  Conde's 
son,  now  become  iny  own  child.  He  succeeds  to  his  father's 
name  and  glory.  Heaven  grant  that  they  may  both  show 
themselves  worthy  of  their  ancestors !" 

The  Huguenot  troops  hailed  the  young  Prince  of  Beam 
with  acclamations  as  their  commander-in-chief,  and  the  pro- 


300  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

tector  of  their  churches.  The  gallant  boy  welcomed  the  per- 
ilous commission,  and  coming  forward  exclaimed :  "  Soldiers, 
your  cause  is  mine.  I  swear  to  defend  our  religion,  and  to 
persevere  until  death  or  victory*  has  restored  us  the  liberty 
for  which  we  fight."  In  the  "  Memoirs  of  Nevers  "  there  are 
some  letters  written  two  years  before  this  by  the  principal 
magistrate  of  Bordeaux,  containing  several  interesting  partic- 
ulars of  the  young  prince's  person  and  manners : — "  He  is  a 
charming  youth.  At  thirteen  he  has  all  the  riper  qualities  of 
eighteen  or  nineteen.  He  is  agreeable,  polite,  obliging,  and 
behaves  to  every  one  with  an  air  so  easy  and  engaging,  that 
wherever  he  is,  there  is  always  a  crowd.  He  mixes  in  conver- 
sation like  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  speaks  always  to  the  pur- 
pose, and  when  it  happens  that  the  court  is  the  subject  of 
discourse,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  is  perfectly  well  acquainted 
with  it,  and  never  says  more  or  less  than  he  ought  wherever 
he  may  be.  I  shall  all  my  life  hate  the  new  religion  for  hav- 
ing robbed  us  of  so  worthy  a  subject.  .  .  .  His  hair  is  a  little 
red,  yet  the  ladies  think  him  not  less  agreeable  on  that  ac- 
count. His  face  is  finely  shaped,  his  nose  neither  too  large 
nor  too  small,  his  eyes  full  of  sweetness,  his  skin  brown  but 
clear,  and  his  whole  countenance  animated  with  an  uncommon 
vivacity."f 

The  Huguenot  loss  at  Jarnac  was  not  great  numerically — 
400  men  at  the  utmost ;  and  the  various  scattered  corps  were 
so  soon  brought  together,  and  presented  so  bold  a  front  to 
the  enemy,  that  Anjou  did  not  care  to  risk  his  newly-acquired 
laurels  in  a  second  encounter.  He  appeared  to  have  lost  all  en- 
ergy. Tavannes  proposed  the  laying  waste  of  Poitou,  "  the 
Huguenot  milch  cow ;"  but,  instead  of  following  his  advice, 


*  "  Death  or  Victory  "  had  been  Henry's  motto  in  certain  court  masques, 
until  Catherine,  whose  curiosity  was  piqued  by  the  three  Greek  initials  he 
used,  ordered  him  to  discontinue  them. 

t  Some  years  ago  there  was  in  the  cabinet  of  Alfred  de  Vigny,  the  author 
of  Cinq  Afars,  a  portrait,  by  an  unknown  painter,  of  Prince  Henry,  when 
not  more  than  three  years  old.  It  was  full  of  character  and  life. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  301 

the  young  duke  seems  to  have  thought  that  the  best  means 
of  terminating  the  war  would  be  to  capture  Rochelle,  the  real 
base  of  Huguenot  operations.  And  probably  victory  would 
have  crowned  his  plans,  had  he  moved  rapidly  on  that  city, 
which  was  hardly  in  a  condition  to  withstand  a  coup  de  main. 
But  the  middle  course  which  he  adopted  served  no  other  pur- 
pose than  to  strengthen  his  enemies.  While  he  was  besieging 
Cognac,  Duke  Wolfgang  of  Deux  Fonts,  with  an  auxiliary 
force  of  14,000,  succeeded  in  marching  across  France,  and 
effecting  a  junction  with  the  admiral,  despite  the  efforts  of 
Xemours  and  Aumale  to  stop  him.  On  other  points  the  royal 
forces  had  been  equally  unsuccessful.  Anjou  was  forced  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Cognac,  stoutly  defended  by  D'Acier  with 
1500  men,  and  lost  one  of  his  best  officers,  Cosse-Brissac,  be- 
fore the  walls  of  a  petty  fortress  in  Perigord.  Living  or  dy- 
ing, Brissac,  although  rather  a  favorite  of  the  queen-mother's, 
had  but  little  influence  on  the  course  of  events ;  but  if  not  nat- 
urally cruel,  he  was  a  striking  illustration  of  the  hardness  of 
heart  engendered  by  civil  strife.  A  contemporary,  who  knew 
him  well,  describes  him  as  "  quick  to  slay,  and  so  fond  of  kill- 
ing, that  he  would  attack  a  person  with  his  dagger,  and  cut 
him  so  that  the  blood  spurted  in  his  face." 

More  serious  were  the  deaths  of  Wolfgang  and  Andelot, 
both  caused  by  fatigue  and  anxiety.*  The  former,  who  did 
not  live  to  meet  Coligny,  was  succeeded  by  the  Count  of 
Mansfield ;  the  latter  by  Jacques  de  Crussol,  better  known  as 
Jacques  d'Acier,  the  chivalrous  leader  of  the  southern  Hugue- 
nots. The  admiral  was  deeply  afflicted  by  the  loss  of  his 
brother,  whom  he  describes  as  "  a  most  faithful  servant  of 
God,  and  most  excellent  and  renowned  captain.  No  one,"  he 
continues  in  a  letter  to  his  own  children  and  to  their  bereaved 
cousins,  "  surpassed  him  in  the  profession  of  arms.  ...  I 
have  never  known  a  juster  or  more  pious  man ;  and  I  pray 

*  Sir  James  Stephen  says  that  Andelot  was  slain  at  Moncontour.  Lectures, 
Hist.  France,  ii.  p.  123.  He  died  at  Saintce,  27th  May ;  Moncontour  was 
fought  3d  October. 


302  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

God  that  I  may  quit  this  life  as  piously  and  happily  as  he 
did.  .  .  .  Temper  my  grief  by  showing  his  virtues  living 
again  in  yourselves." 

Coligny,  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  the  German  mer- 
cenaries and  of  reinforcements  from  Languedoc,  now  marched 
out  to  meet  the  royal  army,  still  superior  in  numbers  but 
weakened  by  disease  and  divided  authority.  They  came  in 
sight  of  each  other  at  Roche-Abeille :  25,000  men  marched 
under  the  Huguenot  banners ;  Anjou's  force  had  been  in- 
creased to  30,000  by  auxiliaries  from  every  quarter.  The 
pope  had  sent  a  body  of  4000  foot  and  800  horse  under  the 
Count  of  Santa  Fiore,  one  of  the  most  experienced  captains 
of  the  age.  The  Duke  of  Tuscany  sent  2200  men  ;  and  Alva 
spared  from  Flanders  300  lances  and  a  regiment  of  Walloons 
3000  strong.  The  country  round  Roche-Abeille  is  woody 
and  irregular,  and  the  royal  army  was  posted  on  the  top  of  a 
rugged  hill,  at  whose  foot  ran  a  small  stream.  A  marsh, 
crossed  by  a  narrow  road,  protected  the  Huguenot  position. 
The  king's  troops,  having  the  city  of  Limoges  in  their  rear, 
were  well  supplied  with  provisions ;  while  Coligny  found  it 
difficult  to  feed  his  army  in  the  mountains  and  barren 
country  behind  him.  Should  he  starve,  retreat,  or  fight? 
The  only  safety  lay  in  fighting,  for  the  Germans  had  already 
begun  to  murmur.  At  day-break  the  Huguenots  were  under 
arms,  and  with  six  cannons,  two  companies  of  horse,  and  two 
brigades  of  infantry,  prepared  to  attack  Anjou's  position. 
Strozzi,  the  new  colonel-general  of  the  French  infantry,  had 
thrown  up  some  rude  breastworks  round  his  camp  with  an 
advanced  battery  for  his  artillery,  which  swept  the  marsh 
over  which  the  enemy  would  have  to  pass.  The  gallant  De 
Piles,  who  led  the  attack,  was  at  first  repulsed,  and  severely 
harassed  by  four  ensigns  of  Italian  horse,  who  came  down 
the  hill  while  he  was  engaged  in  trying  to  extricate  his  guns 
which  had  stuck  fast  in  the  ground.  Disengaging  himself 
from  the  marsh,  he  renewed  the  attack,  and  having  driven 
off  the  Italian  horse,  Coligny  ordered  Anjou's  position  to  be 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  303 

assaulted  in  flank,  while  a  fierce  cannonade  was  directed 
against  the  advanced  battery.  An  opening  was  soon  made 
in  the  enemy's  line,  through  which  the  Huguenot  cavalry 
poured  like  a  torrent,  and  the  day  was  won,  Strozzi  being 
made  prisoner  (23d  June,  1569).  Six  hundred  of  the  royal 
army,  including  thirty  officers,  were  left  upon  the  field,  the 
Huguenots  showing  no  mercy  to  the  Italian  troops,  "  the 
soldiers  of  Antichrist,"  as  they  were  called.  The  result 
would  have  been  still  more  fatal  had  it  not  been  for  the  skill 
displayed  by  Tavannes  in  remedying  Anjou's  mistakes.  But, 
notwithstanding  his  success,  Coligny  was  compelled  to  retire 
to  a  more  convenient  position,  and  not  long  after  the  king's 
army  was  broken  Tip,  the  weather  being  too  hot  for  field 
operations.  Davila  mentions  that  this  resolution  was  agreed 
to  by  a  council  at  which  Catherine  was  present  and  advised 
moderation.  "  It  is  not  usual,"  she  said,  "  to  cut  off  a  dis- 
eased limb,  except  in  extreme  necessity." 

Coligny  had  taken  advantage  of  his  success  at  Roche- 
Abeille  to  make  overtures  for  peace.  He  wrote  to  the  king 
that  the  Huguenots  "  desired  nothing  but  to  live  in  peace, 
pursue  their  avocations  in  quiet,  and  enjoy  their  property  in 
security ;"  and  that,  in  religious  matters,  they  asked  for  tolera- 
tion only  until  the  assembling  of  a  national  council.  The 
letter  was  sent  through  Montmorency,  who  was  instruct- 
ed to  answer  that  "  the  king  would  hear  nothing  until  the 
Huguenots  had  returned  to  their  obedience."  The  admiral 
saw  clearly  that  to  lay  down  their  arms  without  conditions 
would  be  to  expose  themselves  to  certain  destruction ;  he 
therefore  replied  to  the  marshal's  letter,  that  "  having  done 
their  part  to  avert  the  dangers  which  threaten  ruin  to  the 
state,  they  must  now  more  than  ever  seek  their  own  remedies." 
Accordingly  he  resumed  hostilities,  his  plan  being  to  clear 
Poitou  of  the  Royalist  forces.  Overruled  by  his  officers,  he 
consented  to  begin  by  attacking  Poitiers,  thus  repeating  the 
blunder  which  Anjou  had  committed  before  Cognac.  The 
admiral  not  only  failed  after  a  two  months'  siege,  but  his 


304  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

forebodings  as  to  the  damage  to  las  own  army  were  more 
than  realized.  With  a  force  weakened  by  the  loss  of  3000 
men  and  disunited  by  the  quarrels  of  the  German  auxiliaries, 
he  once  more  encountered  Anjou's  army  in  the  wide  and  tree- 
less plain  of  Assay  near  Moncontour.  The  duke,  who  had 
been  reinforced,  was  on  his  way  to  Loudun,  hoping  to  cut  off 
the  Huguenot  magazines,  when  Coligny,  divining  his  plans, 
pushed  forward  to  the  plain  of  St.  Clair,  to  the  left  of  the 
villacre  of  La  Chaussee,  on  the  road  from  Loudun  to  Poitiers, 

O  '  ' 

where  he  drew  up  in  order  of  battle  ;  but  as  no  enemy  ap- 
peared, he  retired  toward  Moncontour,  whither  he  had  sent 
his  guns  and  baggage.  Before  this  movement  was  completed, 
the  Duke  of  Montpensier  suddenly  appeared  and  fell  on  the 
rear-guard,  driving  it  in  confusion  before  him.  Coligny  con- 
tinued his  march,  supposing  the  whole  of  the  royal  army  to 
be  behind  him;  but  when  he  discovered  that  it  was  only 
Montpensier's  division,  he  turned  and  drove  it  back,  captur- 
ing two  flags.  This  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  crossing  the 
Dive  in  safety,  over  which  little  stream  the  enemy  made  a  vain 
attempt  to  pursue  hyn.  As  soorr  as  it  was  night  he  contin- 
ued his  march,  and  reached  Moncontour  on  the  2d  October, 
where  a  council  of  Avar  was  held,  at  which  Coligny  proposed 
a  farther  retreat  to  Airvault,  but  the  majority  decided  for 
immediate  battle.  The  Germans  now  declared  they  would 
not  lift  a  lance  until  they  were  paid,  and  with  some  difficulty 
the  money  was  found;  but  so  much  pi-ecious  time  had  been 
lost,  that  the  admiral  was  unable  to  select  an  advantageous 
position  to  compensate  for  his  inferiority  in  number. 

From  eight  in  the  morning  until  three  in  the  afternoon  (3d 
October,  1569),  the  two  armies  kept  up  a  fierce  cannonade 
upon  each  other,  two  of  Anjou's  batteries  on  a  hill  causing 
great  damage,  and  finally  compelling  some  Huguenot  regi- 
ments to  shift  their  ground.  Anjou  observing  this,  ordered 
a  forward  movement,  with  the  right  wing  strengthened  so  as  to 
turn  the  enemy's  left.  At  the  first  shock  both  wings  gave  way. 
Coligny  rallied  them,  and  by  a  vigorous  onset  beat  back  Anjou's 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  305 

* 

first  line.  The  duke  immediately  brought  up  his  second 
line,  and  the  Huguenot  centre  began  to  waver,  when  An jou's 
German  calvary  rode  down  upon  them  like  a  hurricane,  and 
in  half  an  hour  all  was  over.  The  Huguenots  went  into  bat- 
tle 18,000  strong,  and  before  night  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to 
collect  1000  men  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  two  princes  to 
Parthenay.  There  was  little  mercy  shown  by  the  conquer- 
ors.* A  brigade  of  German  lansquenets  laid  down  their 
arms  and  begged  for  quarter,  which  was  refused,  with  shouts 
of  "  Remember  Roche- Abeille."  A  body  of  French  infantry 
met  with  a  similar  fate.  One  incident  of  the  battle  deserves 
to  be  rescued  from  the  dusty  oblivion  of  the  old  histories. 
When  all  was  in  confusion,  the  Count  of  St.  Cyr,  a  veteran 
soldier  of  eighty-five,  whose  snow-white  beard  flowed  down 
to  his  waist,  contrived  to  rally  three  companies  of  cavalry  with 
which  he  attempted  to  cover  the  retreat.  His  chaplain,  who 
rode  by  his  side,  suggested  that  he  should  say  a  few  words  to 
encourage  his  little  troop.  "  Brave  men  need  few  words,"  he 
cried ;  "  do  as  you  see  me  do."  Then  setting  spurs  to  his 
horse,  he  rode  a  score  or  so  of  yards  in  front  of  his  men,  and 
fell,  struggling  to  the  last  against  the  advancing  enemy. 
Two  hundred  colors  were  taken,  and  "  the  slaughter  was 
greater  than  any  for  these  hundred  years  past."f  The  num- 
ber of  Huguenots  alone  who  were  left  upon  the  field  has  been 
estimated  at  little  less  than  6000.  The  retreat  was  covered 
by  Count  Louis  of  Nassau,};  who  by  his  ability  saved  the 
relics  of  the  broken  and  fugitive  army.  "  I  was  an  eye-wit- 
ness of  it,"  says  Raleigh,  who  had  good  reason  to  thank  him 
for  it.§ 

*  D'Acier  was  ransomed  for  10,000  crowns,  on  hearing  of  which  the  pope 
wrote  angrily  to  Count  Santa  Fiore,  "  che  non  avesse  il  comandainento  di 
lui  osservato  d'  ammazzar  sublto  qualunque  heretico  gli  fosse  venuto  alle  mani." 
Catena  :  Vita  Plo  V. 

t  Simancas  Archives,  Bouille',  ii.  448. 

J  Henry  of  Nassau  had  left  his  studies  to  join  his  brothers:  "dantem 
operam  literis  Argentorati  fratres  secum  abduxerunt."  Languet :  Epist. 
Secr.i.  117. 

§  Raleigh  :  Hist.  World,  bk.  v.  ch.  ii.  sec.  8,  p.  356  (fol.  1G14). 

u 


306  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  position  of  the  admiral  was  most  discouraging :  he 
had  lost  half  his  army,  his  jaw  had  been  fractured  by  a  pistol- 
shot,  he  had  been  declared  a  traitor,  a  price  of  50,000  livres 
had  been  set  upon  his  head,  he  had  been  hanged  in  effigy  in 
Paris,  his  house  had  been  burned  down,  and  his  estates  pil- 
laged,* the  wreck  of  his  forces  were  in  mutiny,  and  many  of 
his  friends  had  forsaken  him  with  reproaches.  Yet,  in  the 
midst  of  all  these  troubles,  we  find  him  within  a  fortnight 
rising  from  his  sick-bed  and  writing  the  following  letter  to 
his  children.  It  bears  date  16th  October,  1569  : — "  We  must 
not  count  upon  what  is  called  prosperity,  or  repose  our  hopes 
on  any  of  those  things  in  which  the  world  confides,  but  seek 
for  something  better  than  our  eyes  can  see  or  our  hands  can 
touch.  We  will  follow  in  the  steps  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  great 
commander,  who  has  gone  before.  Men  have  taken  from  us 
all  they  can,  and  as  such  is  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  we  will 
be  satisfied  and  happy.  Our  consolation  is,  that  we  have  not 
provoked  these  injuries  by  doing  any  wrong  to  those  who 
have  injured  us ;  but  that  I  have  drawn  upon  me  their  hatred 
through  having  been  employed  by  God  in  the  defense  of  his 
Church.  I  will,  therefore,  add  nothing  more,  except  that,  in 
his  name,  I  admonish  and  conjure  you  to  persevere  undaunt- 
edly in  your  studies  and  in  the  practice  of  every  Christian 
virtue." 

When  the  news  of  the  great  victory  reached  the  court,  the 
exultation  surpassed  even  that  caused  by  the  success  at  Jar- 
nac.  Anjou  was  extolled  in  terms  that  excited  the  jealousy 
of  his  brother  Charles.  "  Am  I  to  play  the  sluggard  king," 
he  said  one  day  to  his  mother, "  and  let  the  duke  be  my  may- 
or of  the  palace  ?  I  will  lead  my  own  armies  to  the  field,  like 
my  grandfather,"  Pius  V.  wrote  to  congratulate  Charles  on 
his  victory,  and  exhorted  him  not  to  screen  the  conquered 
from  the  vengeance  of  heaven,  "  for  there  is  nothing  more 

*  Mem.  de  Perussis  in  Aubais,  p.  106.  The  furniture  and  valuables — 
sculptures  by  Goujon,  and  pictures  by  Italian  artists — filled  80  wagons,  and 
produced  400,000  dollars  by  public  auction  in  Paris. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  307 

cruel  than  such  mercy.  Punish  all  who  have  taken  up  arms 
against  the  Almighty."  *  Philip  II.  wrote  in  a  somewhat 
similar  strain,  but  apparently  with  no  effect  upon  the  royal 
councils.  Tavannes  once  more  urged  Anjou  to  act  with  de- 
cision ;  but  once  more  that  frivolous  youth  lost  valuable  time 
in  sieges,  when  he  should  have  been  pressing  hard  upon  Co- 
ligny's  scattered  and  disheartened  forces.  He  was  detained 
for  two  months  before  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  a  little  town  of 
Saintonge,  in  a  valley  on  the  banks  of  the  Boutonne,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  "gently  flowing  Charente."  It  fell  at  last  (2d 
December,  1569),  but  at  the  cost  of  4000  men  and  one  of  the 
king's  best  generals,  Viscount  Martigues.  Charles  was  pres- 
ent during  the  siege,  and  constantly  in  the  trenches,  exposing 
his  life,  as  if  he  were  a  common  soldier.  He  was  so  fasci- 
nated with  the  excitement  of  war,  that  he  declared  he  would 
gladly  share  the  crown  with  his  brother  of  Anjou,  if  he  might 
alternately  command  the  forces. 

"Winter  was  now  coming  on :  the  nights  were  growing  cold, 
and  the  rains  had  set  in.  The  pope  and  the  King  of  Spain 
had  recalled  their  troops,  and  Anjou  was  sick.  As  there  was 
nothing  more  to  be  done  until  spring,  Charles,  dismissing  a 
large  portion  of  his  army,  retired  to  Angers.  This  town  had 
been  recovered  some  time  before  by  "  that  savage  butcher," 
the  Duke  of  Montpensier.  The  Catholic  historian  of  the  city 
enumerates  fifty-two  persons  who  suffered  a  violent  death,  ten 
of  them  being  murdered  by  the  mob.  The  whole  province 
now  submitted,  with  the  exception  of  a  rough  old  soldier 
named  Desmarais,  who  held  out  in  the  ruined  castle  of  Roche- 
fort.  Here  he  was  besieged  in  form,  and  for  a  time  he  kept 
off  the  enemy  by  means  of  frequent  sorties.  Suffering  from 
want  of  men,  food,  and  gunpowder,  he  crossed  the  hostile 
lines  and  reached  Saumur,  where  his  friends  would  have  de- 
tained him,  as  his  defeat  was  certain.  "  I  promised  to  go 


*  Epist.  Pii  papa  V.  Edid.  Gouban,  Antwp.  1640:  "Nihil  cst  ea  mis- 
ericordia  crudelius."    Lib.  iii.  ep.  45,  Octob.  20 


308  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

back  and  die  with  them,"  he  said,  and  prepared  to  return  with 
thirty  men,  who  all  deserted  him  through  fear.  After  a  bom- 
bardment, in  which  every  man  of  the  garrison  was  wounded, 
a  traitor  opened  the  gate  and  all  were  murdered,  except  Des- 
marais,  whose  life  was  promised  him.  Montpensier,  however, 
declaring  that  no  faith  was  to  be  kept  with  heretics,  dragged 
him  to  Angers.  There  his  limbs  were  broken  on  a  cross,  aft- 

O  ' 

er  which  he  was  fastened  to  a  wheel,  and  for  twelve  hours  the 
old  Puritan  fought  against  death,  amid  the  insults  and  jeers 
of  a  cruel  and  cowardly  mob. 

Immediately  after  the  disaster  at  Moncontour,  the  Queen  of 
Navarre,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Huguenot  party  had  written 
to  their  friends  in  England,  Germany,  and  Switzerland,  repre- 
senting the  defeat  as  far  less  decisive  than  it  really  was,  and 
asking  for  more  help,  on  the  ground  that  their  destruction 
would  be  the  ruin  of  all  the  countries  that  had  embraced  the 
Reformed  religion.  The  position  was  indeed  desperate. 
Their  army  had  been  so  cut  up  that  it  was  alike  impossible 
to  make  any  resistance  in  the  open  field,  or  reorganize  it  in 
the  presence  of  the  enemy.  It  was  therefore  determined  to 
retire  from  the  open  country  and  take  shelter  behind  the  walls 
of  Niort,  Angouleme,  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  and  La  Rochelle, 
while  Coligny  moved  southward  in  quest  of  recruits,  hoping 
at  the  same  time  to  draw  a  portion  of  the  royal  army  after  him, 
and  thus  relieve  the  pressure  upon  the  troops  left  in  garrison 
behind  him.  And  now  began  that  celebrated  march  through 
France,  almost  unexampled  in  modern  history.  His  aim  was 
to  reach  the  mountains  of  Upper  Languedoc,  where  he  could 
Avinter  unmolested  by  the  royal  army,  and  recruit  his  forces. 

Starting  from  Saintes  with  3000  men,  chiefly  cavalry,  and 
unencumbered  with  baggage,  he  crossed  the  Dordogno,  and 
pushing  through  Guienne,  Rouergue  and  Quercy,  he  passed 
the  Lot  below  Cadenac.  Halting  for  two  days  at  Montauban, 
he  was  there  joined  by  Montgomery  and  2000  veterans  from 
Beam.  This  nobleman  had  been  engaged  in  putting  down  an 
insurrection  of  the  Catholics  in  that  province.,  which  he  did 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  309 

with  savage  harshness.  Orthez  was  stormed,  and  so  many  of 
the  inhabitants  were  put  to  death  without  distinction  of  age 
or  sex,  that  the  river  Gave  was  dammed  up  by  the  number  of 
bodies  thrown  into  it.  The  monasteries  and  nunneries  were 
burned,  not  one  inmate  escaping — the  total  slaughter  being 
estimated  at  3000.  When  the  citadel  was  taken,  every  eccle- 
siastic who  was  proved  to  have  borne  arms — and  the  proof 
was  none  of  the  strictest — was  bound  hand  and  foot,  and  toss- 
ed over  the  bridge  into  the  river.  From  Montauban  Coligny 
marched  up  the  Garonne  to  Toulouse,  where  he  avenged  the 
cruelties  that  had  been  inflicted  on  Rapin,  the  bearor  of  the 
king's  dispatch  announcing  the  peace  of  1568.  Advancing 
still  nearer  to  the  Mediterranean,  he  placed  his  army  in  win- 
ter-quarters round  Narbonne. 

Let  us  take  advantage  of  this  interval  of  repose  to  see  what 
had  been  doing  in  other  parts  of  France.  A  certain  Captain 
Blosset,  who  held  a  small  castle  at  Regeane  in  the  diocese  of 
Auxerre,  was  besieged  by  the  Catholics  of  the  neighborhood 
and  forced  to  surrender.  He  contrived  to  make  his  escape,  but 
all  the  garrison  were  cruelly  murdered.  One  of  these,  Coeur  de 
Roy  by  name,  was  taken  to  Auxerre,  stripped,  killed,  and  cut  in 
pieces.  His  heart  was  torn  out  of  his  body,  and  slices  of  it  were 
offered  for  sale.  Some  were  such  brutes  (says  the  historian)  as 
to  set  them  on  the  fire  and  eat  them  half-roasted.  "  And  these 
are  the  pious  Christian  duties,"  he  adds,  "  which  we  are 
taught  by  these  troubles!"  This  was  in  June:  in  August 
(1569)  the  houses  in  which  200  Huguenots  had  been  shut  up 
at  Orleans  were  set  on  fire  by  the  mob,  who  drove  back  such 
as  endeavored  to  escape  from  the  flames.  "  A  part  of  them," 
says  a  contemporary, "  were  seen  clasping  their  hands  in  the 
fire  and  calling  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Some  jumped 
out  of  the  windows  and  were  immediately  "  bludgeoned  .'•'  by 
the  people  in  the  street.  Others  were  shot  like  game.  Some 
women  also  were  killed,  who,  heedless  of  the  sacking  of  their 
houses,  were  lamenting  the  deaths  of  their  husbands,  brothers, 
and  others,  whom  they  saw  so  pitilessly  burned.  It  is  pleas- 


310  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

anter  to  read  of  Marie  de  Barbancon,  a  widow  lady,  who  gave 
an  asylum  in  her  castle  of  Bonegon  to  the  fugitive  Protest- 
ants. The  little  fortress,  which  was  defended  by  50  men 
only,  wras  attacked  by  a  force  of  3000  horse  and  foot  provided 
with  artillery.  They  battered  the  walls  for  fifteen  days,  but 
the  brave  woman  still  held  out,  and  \vould  not  surrender  un- 
til all  of  her  little  garrison  were  killed  or  wounded.*  Nismes 
was  captured  in  a  singular  manner.  A  Huguenot  inhabitant 
of  the  city,  by  the  patient  labor  of  fifteen  nights,  filed  away 
the  bar  of  an  iron  gate  which  ran  across  a  brook,  and  through 
the  opening  twenty  of  the  banished  citizens  re-entered  the 
place  and  made  themselves  masters  of  it  in  a  few  minutes. 

At  Cognat,  near  Gannat,  the  Calvinists  of  Auvergne,  under 
the  command  of  Poncenac  and  Valbeleix,  gained  a  pitched 
battle  over  the  Catholics,  in  wThose  ranks  the  Bishop  of  Le 
Puy,  armed  in  helmet  and  cuirass,  fought  like  Orson  writh  a 
ponderous  club.  At  Dieppe  the  Huguenots  were  commanded 
to  leave  the  town  or  go  to  mass,  and  all  refugees  were  sum- 
moned to  return  under  pain  of  having  their  property  confis- 
cated. Not  one  obeyed  the  order.  No  Catholic  was  allow- 
ed to  keep  a  Huguenot  servant ;  and  all  resistance  was  pun- 
ished by  the  strappado,  or  by  a  penitential  progress  through 
the  city,  which  sometimes  ended  in  a  flogging  in  the  market- 
place, more  frequently  in  a  hanging.  But  violence  was  not 
confined  to  one  side  only.  The  Protestants  of  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Aurillac  surprised  that  city,  which  in  retaliation  for 
the  brutalities  committed  in  1562  they  sacked  and  destroyed. 
They  buried  some  Catholics  alive  up  to  the  chin,  and  after  a 
series  of  filthy  outrages,  used  their  heads  as  targets  for  their 
muskets.f  Four  hundred  persons  were  put  to  death,  of  whom 
130  were  heads  of  families. 

Early  in  the  spring  the  Huguenot  army  moved  northward, 
and  halting  at  Nismes,  which  they  reached  in  April,  Coligny 


*  Hist.  France  (Le  Fere  and  Piguerre),  fol.  1581,  p.  1 10,  b. 
fDeThou.  v.  p.  610. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  311 

laid  before  them  the  plan  of  his  new  campaign.  He  proposed 
marching  up  the  Rhone,  and  through  Burgundy,  so  as  to  threat- 
en Paris  on  the  east,  while  the  royal  armies  were  occupied  in 
the  west,  and  separated  from  him  by  rugged  mountain  ranges. 
The  boldness  of  the  design  startled  the  southern  Protestants, 
who  refused  to  be  taken  so  far  from  their  homes ;  but  about 
5000  men  agreed  to  follow  him,  of  whom  3000  were  arque- 
busiers,  whom  he  mounted  on  horseback.*  With  this  flying 
camp  he  advanced  to  the  Rhone,  and  sending  a  detachment 
up  the  right  bank  to  seek  recruits  in  the  Vivarrais  and  the 
Cevennes,  he  crossed  with  the  remainder  into  Dauphiny,  where 
Gordes  was  too  weak  to  make  effectual  resistance.  Contin- 
ual skirmishes,  and  petty  sieges  harassed,  but  did  not  inter- 
rupt, Coligny's  progress ;  but  the  army  suffered  such  great 
hardships,  that  his  illness,  which  compelled  them  to  halt  on 
St.  Etienne  in  Forez,  was  considered  as  any  thing  but  a  ca- 
lamity. For  some  time  he  lay  between  life  and  death,  and  his 
soldiers  now  first  learned  his  value  from  their  fear  of  losing 
him.  During  three  weeks  the  troops  remained  inactive ;  a 
precious  time  which  they  employed  in  repairing  some  of  the 
damage  they  had  suffered  during  their  long  march,  and  where 
they  received  a  most  welcome  reinforcement  of  1500  cavalry 
under  Briquemault. 

Here,  too,  they  were  joined  by  the  corps  detached  to  the 
Vivarrais.  They  had  to  make  their  painful  way  over  rugged 
crests  and  along  horrible  precipices, "  the  image  of  a  world 
f  ailing  into  ruin  and  perishing  of  old  age."  f  Nothing  grows  on 
the  stony  flanks  of  these  exhausted  craters  but  chestnut-trees, 
whose  coarse  fruit  was  not  then  ripe.J  In  the  higher  passes 
the  snow  lay  deep,  as  it  frequently  does  far  into  summer,  and 
horse  and  rider  often  missed  the  way  and  were  seen  no  more. 
Few  towns  or  even  villages  are  to  be  found  even  now  in  these 

*  Villegomblain :  Me"m.  des  Troubles,  i.  2.r>5 
t  Gilbert  de  Voisins  :  Traite  de  Gtognosie. 

J  Weld's  Auvergne  and  Piedmont  contains  an  interesting  nnd  picturesque 
description  of  a  portion  of  this  district. 


312  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

wild  districts,  and  the  peasantry  fare  hard  upon  the  scanty 
supply  of  their  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats.  From  gloomy 
gorges,  many  of  which  are  aptly  named  Enfer  or  J)iable,  where 
black  precipitous  rocks  almost  exclude  the  day,  and  through 
which  dash  impetuous  torrents,  often  dry  in  summer,  and 
in  winter  impassable — from  these  gorges  the  army  suddenly 
emerged  into  a  smiling  valley,  now  the  scene  of  a  most  thriv- 
ing industry ! 

As  soon  as  Coligny  had  recovered  his  strength,  the  army  was 
once  more  put  in  motion,  and  in  June  reached  Arnay-le-Duc 
in  Burgundy,  after  a  march  of  nearly  1200  miles.  Here 
Marshal  Cosse  attempted  to  stop  him  with  an  army  of  12,000 
foot  and  4000  horse  with  artillery,  while  the  Huguenot  force 
barely  exceeded  6000  men,  mostly  cavalry  and  no  guns,  so 
great  had  been  the  losses  since  they  left  Poitou  the  previous 
autumn.  The  battle  began  on  the  edge  of  a  little  brook 
which  the  Catholics  attempted  to  cross ;  but  all  their  attacks, 
whether  in  front  or  in  flank,  were  unsuccessful.  Throughout 
that  long  summer  day  (27th  June,  1570),  Cosse  tried  again 
and  again,  but  every  movement  was  met  promptly  and  resist- 
ed vigorously.  At  length  night  came — a  welcome  relief  to  the 
petty  band  of  Huguenots,  whose  losses,  though  numerically 
small,  were  greater  than  Coligny  could  afford.  The  next  day 
the  two  armies  remained  face  to  face,  the  marshal  being  evi- 
dently afraid  of  so  desperate  an  enemy.  "  Here,"  says  Prince 
Henry,  "was  my  first  exploit  in  arms,*  the  question  being 
whether  I  should  fight  or  retire.  My  nearest  place  of  retreat 
was  forty  miles  distant,  and,  if  I  halted,  I  must  certainly  lie  at 
the  mercy  of  the  country  people.  By  fighting,  I  ran  the 
risk  of  being  taken  or  slain,  for  I  had  no  cannon,  and  the 
king's  forces  had,  and  a  gentleman  was  killed  not  ten  paces 
distant  from  me  by  a  cannon  shot.  But  commending  the  suc- 
cess of  the  day  to  God,  it  pleased  him  to  make  it  favorable 

*  Henry  and  the  Prince  of  Cpnde  had  each  a  regiment  at  the  head  of 
which  they  made  their  apprenticeship  in  arms. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  313 

and  happy."*  Coligny  warmly  complimented  the  young 
prince  on  his  courage,  and  gave  him  some  advice  which  he 
did  not  forget  in  after  years :  "  Do  not  ask  how  many  have 
fallen  ?  They  are  Frenchmen,  and  I  hope  that  ere  long  you 
and  I  will  have  to  shed  no  more  French  blood  in  our  own  de- 
fense  If  I  have  taught  you  by  my  firmness  to 

triumph  over  the  cruelest  obstacles,  you  have  still  to  learn  a 
more  valuable  lesson  from  me — to  avoid  civil  war  at  any  price." 
Arnay  le  Due  is  only  sixty  leagues  from  Paris,  toward 
which  Coligny  was  advancing  with  a  speed  which  the  defeat- 
ed and  encumbered  army  of  Marshal  Cosse  could  not  over- 
take, even  if  he  were  anxious  (which  is  doubtful)  to  do  so. 
A  fresh  body  of  auxiliaries  was  on  its  way  from  Germany  to 
reinforce  Prince  Henry ;  La  ;N"oue  had  not  only  saved  Ro- 
chelle,  but  recovered  the  greater  part  of  Poitou ;  and  the  ad- 
miral had  reached  Chatillon-sur-Loing,  his  patrimonial  seat.f 
This  was  enough  to  alarm  the  court  and  turn  their  thoughts 
to  peace.  After  the  battle  at  La  Roche-Abeille  there  had 
been  an  attempt  at  arrangement,  and  also  after  Moncontour, 
but  in  both  cases  the  language  of  the  king  and  council  was 
very  discouraging.  At  this  juncture,  however,  the  Moderate 
party  had  recovered  their  ascendancy  in  the  cabinet :  "  Five 
out  of  the  eight  were  atheists  or  Huguenots,"  says  the  Span- 
ish embassador.  J  Yielding  to  their  influence,  the  king  and 
his  mother  were  inclined  to  be  conciliatory,  and  to  grant  any 
reasonable  terms ;  for  the  treasury  was  empty,  and  the  Swiss 
auxiliaries  were  threatening  to  return  home  unless  their  arrears 
were  paid.  Nor  were  the  Huguenots  much  better  off.  Their 
army  had  received  no  pay  for  some  time,  their  arms  and 
equipments  were  worn  out,  and  they  were  far  from  their  re- 
sources. La  Noue  tells  us  that  the  prospect  of  a  cessation  of 
hostilities  was  not  popular  with  the  extreme  party  on  either 

*  Matthien,  i.  lir.  v.  p.  327. 

t  Chatillon-sur-Loing  (not  sur-Loire~),  is  in  Loiret,  fire  leagues  S.E.  of 
Montargis,  and  16  leagues  E.  of  Orleans,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Loing. 
J  Siinancas  Archives :  Bouille,  ii.  p.  454. 


314  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

side :  the  Catholics  declaring  it  to  be  "  an  unworthy  deed  to 
make  peace  with  heretics,  who  deserved  grievous  punishment ; 
the  Huguenots  deeming  it  to  be  nothing  but  treason." 
Coligny  himself  appears  to  have  held  back  at  first,  thinking 
probably  that  no  good  could  come  from  the  negotiations ;  but 
his  feelings  on  the  matter  may  be  gathered  from  the  faithful 
La  Noue,  who  reports  that  after  the  peace  was  signed  he  ex- 
claimed :  "  I  would  rather  die  than  fall  into  the  like  confusions 
again,  and  see  so  many  mischiefs  committed  before  my  face." 

After  some  preliminary  discussion,  five  negotiators  were  ap- 
pointed—  Teligny,  Beauvais,  La  Node,  Cavaignes,  and  La 
Chassetiere — by  whom  the  conditions  of  a  treaty  were  soon 
arranged  and  presented  for  the  ratification  of  the  king  and 
the  confederate  princes.  Once  more  the  papal  nuncio  and 
the  Spanish  embassador  exerted  all  their  influence  to  prolong 
the  war,  even  threatening  Charles  with  their  master's  dis- 
pleasure. But  the  French  king,  who  had  set  his  mind  upon 
peace,  would  listen  to  nothing,  and  the  treaty  was  signed  at 
St.  Germains  in  August,  1570.  It  conceded  a  full  amnesty 
for  the  past,  all  prisoners  of  war  were  to  be  released,  and  all 
confiscated  property  restored;  the  appropriated  churches 
were  to  be  given  back  to  the  Catholic  priests ;  no  one  was  to 
be  troubled  on  account  of  his  religion ;  and  the  right  of  pub- 
lic worship  was  conceded  to  the  Reformed  under  certain  re- 
strictions. Huguenots  were  to  enjoy  equal  rights  with  the 
Catholics,  and  be  eligible  to  every  office  in  the  State.  The 
right  of  appeal  from  the  provincial  parliaments  was  extended, 
and — galling  condition ! — four  cities  (La  Rochelle,  Montauban, 
Cognac,  and  La  Charite)  were  to  be  held  for  two  years  by 
Huguenot  garrisons  as  pledges  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  treaty 
stipulations. 

Immediately  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  the  Huguenots 
disbanded  their  army ;  the  German  auxiliaries  were  paid  off 
by  a  levy  on  the  Protestant  churches ;  and  the  leaders  proceed- 
ed to  La  Rochelle,  where  Joan  of  Navarre  was  holding  a  lit- 
tle court.  The  royal  army  was  marched  to  various  garrison 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  315 

towns  and  then  partly  disbanded.  On  their  route  northward, 
an  incident  occurred  which  shows  how  little  regard  was  felt 
for  human  life  :  nothing  hardens  the  heart  more  than  civil 
war.  When  Strozzi  had  to  cross  the  Loire,  he  found  his 
march  so  embarrassed  by  the  number  of  female  camp-follow- 
ers, wrho  would  not  obey  the  proclamations  to  leave  the  army, 
that  he  threw  more  than  800  of  them  into  the  Loire  at  Pont 
de  Co  above  Angers.  * 

The  color  given  to  the  next  two  years  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  IX.  depends  much  upon  the  view  we  take  of  the 
Peace  of  St.  Germains.  "Was  the  court  sincere,  or  only  play- 
ing a  part  to  entice  the  Huguenots  into  a  trap,  and  so  get  rid 
of  them  at  one  blow  ?  This  is  the  opinion  of  many,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Davila,  who  says  positively  that  the  peace  was  a 
snare.f  But  he  is  occasionally  too  subtle :  he  belongs  to  that 
class  of  historians  who  think  that  kings  and  statesmen  regu- 
late their  policy  by  grand  schemes  of  far-sighted  calculation, 
instead  of  living,  as  it  were,  from  hand  to  mouth.  The  im- 
prevu,  to  use  an  apt  French  word,  plays  a  much  more  impor- 
tant part  in  human  affairs  than  some  historians  are  willing  to 
believe.  The  Treaty  of  St.  Germains — and  we  have  Walsing- 
ham's  express  testimony  to  that  effect  J — was  the  work  of  the 
Politicians,  all  good  Catholics,  like  Cosse,  Damville,  and 
Montmorency.  "Walsingham  adds  that  the  king  had  sharp- 
ly rebuked  the  mutinous  Parisians,  and  told  them  that  he 
meant  to  have  the  treaty  "  duly  observed."  He  farther  ex- 
plains why  Charles  should  have  desired  peace :  "  His  own  dis- 
position, necessity,  pleasure,  misliking  with  certain  of  his 
council  and  favoring  of  others."  Walsingham  already  saw 
the  small  cloud  rising  that  would  soon  overshadow  France : 
"Monsieur  (Anjou)  can  hardly  digest  to  live  in  the  degree  of  a 
subject,  having  already  the  reputation  of  a  king."  § 

*  Lc  Pipre :  Abreye  chron.  de  la  Maison  du  Rot,  p.  30.  (4tO.  ed.). 

t  See  also  J.  Rondinelli :  Oratio  in  exequiis  Knroll  IX.     Florentise,  1574. 

J  W.ilsinghnm  to  Leicester,  29th  August,  1570. 

§  Digges :  Comjileat  Ambassador,  p.  7. 


316  MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Languet's  testimony  is  equally  decisive  as  to  the  pacific  dis- 
position of  Charles  IX.*  Contarini  speaks  doubtfully  about 
the  treaty,  although  he  says  "  peace  was  the  aim  and  desire  of 
the  king  and  queen."f  Indeed  it  was  not  Catherine's  policy 
to  crush  the  Huguenots  utterly :  she  needed  them  as  a  coun- 
terpoise to  the  Guises,  who,  though  at  this  time  rather  out  of 
favor  at  court,  were,  perhaps,  all  the  more  popular  among  the 
fanatic  masses. 

It  must  be  farther  borne  in  mind  that,  at  this  turning-point 
of  Catherine's  policy,  not  only  the  pope  Avas  not  consulted,  but 
the  court,  in  making  peace,  acted  in  direct  opposition  to  his 
representations.  In  January,  Pius  V.  strongly  advised  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  war,J  and  when  he  heard  of  the  treaty  of  St. 
Germains,  he  wrote  to  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Bourbon, 
expressing  his  "  fears  that  God  would  inflict  a  judgment  on 
the  king  and  all  who  counseled  and  took  part  in  the  infamous 
negotiations.  We  can  not  refrain  from  tears  as  we  think  how 
deplorable  the  peace  is  to  all  good  men ;  how  full  of  danger, 
and  what  a  source  of  bitter  regret." 

It  would  have  been  very  easy  to  quiet  the  holy  father  by 
telling  him  that  the  treaty  was  a  snare ;  but  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  done  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  king  and  his  mother 
both  represented  to  him  the  necessity  of  peace.  Pius  replied 
in  angry  tones,  and  the  court  made  answer  that  the  king  was 
master  in  his  own  dominions  to  do  as  he  pleased.  In  a  some- 
what similar  manner,  Spain  tried  to  thwart  the  negotiations ; 
Philip  II.  even  offered  to  send  Charles  a  force  of  3000  horse 
and  6000  foot,  provided  he  would  engage  never  to  make  peace 
with  the  heretic  rebels.  But  this  attempt  to  prolong  the  war 
also  failed,  and  we  learn  from  Walsingham's  dispatches  that 
a  great  coolness  sprang  up  between  the  two  courts. 

*  Ad  Camer.  p.  132.  "  Omnes  affirmant  esse  eximiae  voluntatis  regem ; 
sed  potentcs  sunt  factioncs  eorum  qui  pacem  improbant  ....  omnia 
sunt  hie  tranquilla,  nee  dubitat  quisquam  regem  esse  pacis  cupidissimnm.'' 
p.  13G.  t  Baschet,  p.  2r>2. 

t  "  Nullam  luci  cum  tenebris  communionem,  nullamque  catholicis  cum  ha:, 
reticis .  . .  compositionem  esse  posse."  Letter  of  29th  January,  1570,  Potter. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  317 

There  is  a  letter  written  on  the  10th  December,  four  months 
after  the  signature  of  the  treaty,  which  shows  very  plainly  the 
feeling  of  the  government.  The  clergy  of  Tours  had  com- 
plained of  the  licensed  Protestant  meeting-place  at  Maille, 
and  petitioned  that  it  should  be  removed  to  Montdoubleau  or 
elsewhere.  Charles  replied  that  he  would  Avillingly  grant 
their  prayer,  could  he  do  so  without  contravening  the  Edict, 
which  he  was  determined  "  to  keep  and  observe  inviolably ;" 
but  he  promised  to  consult  .with  Xavarre  and  Conde  on  the 
matter,  and  if  possible,  with  their  consent,  the  change  should 
be  made.*  Two  months  later  (13th  February,  1571),  Charles 
writes  to  Humieres,  governor  of  Peronne  and  an  old  friend, 
expressing  his  satisfaction  at  the  peaceful  state  of  the  country 
and  his  intention  to  reduce  the  army.f 

In  the  Archives  of  Gap  there  is  a  letter  from  the  king  to 
the  baillis,in  which  he  rejoices  at  the  prosperous  state  of  the 
kingdom  and  good  conduct  of  the  people ;  testifies  the  liveliest 
desire  to  consolidate  union  and  concord  between  all  his  sub- 
jects, and  recommends  them  "  de  tenir  la  main  a  1'execution 
exacte  de  son  edit  de  pacification,  et  de  punir  ceux  qui  y  con- 
treviendraient "  (4th  May,  1572).  Charles  was  proud  of  the 
treaty  of  St.  Germains,  spoke  of  it  as  his  own  treaty  and  his 
own  peace,  artfully  insinuating  (adds  Sully,  a  prejudiced  wit- 
ness) that  he  consented  to  this  peace  in  order  to  support  the 
princes  of  the  blood  against  the  overweening  presumption  of 
the  Guises,  whom  he  accused  of  conspiring  with  Spain  to 
throw  the  kingdom  into  confusion.  The  Guises  certainly  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  treaty.  They  opposed  it  instead  of 
supporting  it ;  a  course  they  would  hardly  have  adopted  had 
they  been  aware  that  it  was  a  trap  for  the  Huguenots.  The 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  even  wished  to  leave  the  court,  so  strong- 
ly did  he  disapprove  of  the  negotiations.  Fornier  indeed, 

*  Tours  Archives.     Lnzarche :  Lettres  Mstoriques  (18G1),  p.  129. 

t  "  Voyant  maintenant  les  affaires  de  mon  royaume  rcduites  au  bon  e'tat 
qu'elles  sont  (Dien  merci),  apres  qu'il  lui  a  plu  pacifier  des  troubles  qui  y 
ctaient."  MS3.  Bibl.  Imp.  inSoldan:  FranJcreichunddieBartholomceusnacht. 


318  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

in  his  unpublished  history  of  the  house  of  Guise,  says  that  it 
was  the  cardinal  who  proposed  "  ce  grand  coup  d'etat " — the 
peace  and  the  massacre — and  that  it  was  approved  of  by  the 
king  in  a  council  to  which  the  queen-mother,  Anjou,  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  and  De  Retz,  "  tous  gens  d'un  secret  inviolable,"  were 
summoned ;  *  but  the  duke  was  not  in  favor  at  the  time,  and 
the  statement  is  entirely  unsupported.  It  is  also  positive 
that  Anjou  greatly  disapproved  of  the  negotiations. 

But  it  is  contended  that  all  these  things  were  part  of  the 
plot — Anjou's  dislike,  the  duke's  absence,  the  king's  zeal.  It 
may  be  so ;  but  this  hypothesis  involves  us  in  greater  difficul- 
ties than  the  other.  If  we  assume  that  the  government  was 
sincere,  every  thing  becomes  clear  for  the  next  two  years ;  if 
we  adopt  the  contrary  opinion,  the  course  of  events  up  to  the 
eve  of  the  massacre  is  an  inextricable  maze.  True,  it  is  im- 
possible to  say  whether  Catherine  accepted  the  treaty  without 
any  arriere-pensee,  any  mental  reservation ;  for  she  accepted 
every  thing,  and  was  sincere  in  nothing  except  her  master-pas- 
sion— to  govern  France.  For  this,  she  not  only  played  one 
party  against  the  other,  but  habitually  dallied  with  opposing 
schemes,  intriguing  now  on  this  side,  now  on  that,  deceiving 
and  betraying  all.  The  most  serious  objection  to  the  sincerity 
of  the  government  is  the  shyness,  the  unwillingness  of  the  Re- 
formed chiefs  to  go  to  court,  or  even  to  visit  their  OWH  estates. 
But  then,  if  they  suspected  treachery,  why  did  they  consent  to 
the  treaty  of  St.  Germains,  or  to  any  treaty,  thus  preparing  a 
snare  for  themselves  ?  Better  die  in  the  field  struggling  for 
liberty,  than  perish  ingloriously  like  rats  in  a  trap.  Sully,  in 
a  measure,  clears  away  the  doubt  just  raised.  In  his  "  Royal 
Economies  "  he  says :  "  "With  a  view  of  giving  a  more  solid 
foundation  and  consistency  to  their  affairs,  they  resolved  to 
take  up  their  residence  permanently  at  La  Rochelle,  within 
the  walls  of  which  they  could  alone  consider  themselves  in  se- 
curity." 

*  Bouille,  ii.  456,  note,.  See  also  Etat  de  France,  i.  12  b  (ed.  1579).  Le 
Tocsain,  p.  93  (ed.  1579). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  319 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  CALM  BEFORE  THE  STORM. 

[August,  1570, to  August,  1572.] 

Albert  and  Pierre  de  Gondi,  Birague,  Strozzi,  Nevcrs,  and  Henry  of  Guise 
— Marriage  of  Charles  IX — Nuptial  Festivities  at  Paris — Embassy  of  the 
German  Princes — Violent  Sermons — Outrages  at  Orange  and  Rouen — 
Objects  of  the  Politiques — Revolt  in  Flanders — Position  of  Affairs — In- 
terview between  the  King  and  Prince  Louis  of  Nassau — Spanish  Threats 
— Coligny's  Marriage — The  Admiral  goes  to  Blois — Conferences  with  the 
King — Proposed  Marriage  of  Henry  and  Margaret — Murder  of  Ligne- 
rolles — The  Gastine  Cross — Queen  of  Navarre  at  Blois — Alessandrino'g 
Special  Embassy — Letters  to  Rome — Negotiations — Pope  refuses  the  Dis- 
pensation— Fears  of  the  Parisians. 

THE  Peace  of  St.  Germains  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  for- 
eigners by  whom  the  court  was  infested.  Their  interests 
were  entirely  opposed  to  those  of  France,  and  their  great  ob- 
ject was  to  enrich  themselves,  by  any  means  however  base 
and  unworthy.  They  were  found  everywhere — filling  up  the 
rich  sees,  wealthy  abbacies,  court  places — where  money  could 
be  got  without  peril  to  life  or  toil  of  body.  Their  expulsion 
seemed  to  be  the  only  means  of  saving  the  country  and  ensur- 
ing that  permanent  concord  at  which  the  "  Politiques  "  had 
aimed  in  supporting  the  late  treaty. 

The  chief  among  these  foreigners  were  Gondi,  Birague,  and 
Strozzi.  Albert  de  Gondi — better  known  in  history  as  Mar- 
shal de  Retz — was  a  man  of  low  origin,  his  mother  acting  as 
wet-nurse  to  Catherine's  children,  so  that  Albert  and  Charles 
IX.  were  foster-brothers,  and  thus  there  naturally  grew  up  a 
strong  attachment  between  them.  After  the  death  of  Henry 
II.  Albert  rose  rapidly,  and  was  made  successively  knight  of 
the  orders  of  St.  Michael  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  first  gentle- 


320  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

man  of  the  bed-chamber,  privy  councilor,  general  of  the  gal- 
leys, duke,  peer,  marshal,  and  governor  of  Provence,  in  which 
he  succeeded  Marshal  Tende,  "to  the  great  indignation  of 
the  nobility,"  says  De  Thou.*  It  was  this  man  who,  appoint- 
ed governor  to  the  young  king  Charles,  corrupted  and  per- 
verted all  his  promising  qualities.  His  latter  days  were  very 
miserable :  for  twenty  years  he  lingered  on,  not  living  but  suf- 
fering, and  died  in  1602,  an  example  of  divine  justice.f 

Abstulit  hunc  tandem  Kufini  pcena  tumultum, 
Absolvitque  Deos. 

Pierre  de  Gondi  was  chancellor  to  the  queen,  bishop,  Duke 
of  Langres,  and  then  of  Paris,  the  possessor  of  four  abbeys, 
commander  of  the  order  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  cardinal. 
There  was  another  brother,  Charles,  also  weh1  provided  for. 

Rene  de  Birague,  who  had  succeeded  the  virtuous  L'Hopi- 
tal  in  the  chancellorship,  was  a  Milanese,  and  in  succession 
lawyer,  soldier,  courtier,  priest,  chancellor,  and  cardinal.  He 
was  a  thorough  Italian,  careless  of  religion,  unscrupulous,  fond 
of  intrigue,  time-serving,  and  slavishly  submissive  to  the 
king's  caprices.  Mezeray  describes  him  as  "  a  magistrate 
without  learning  or  application,  who  bent  like  a  reed  before 
every  breath  of  wind  from  the  court."  It  was  he  who  ad- 
vised Charles  IX.  to  get  rid  of  the  Huguenots,  not  by  the 
help  of  soldiers  but  of  cooks  —  in  other  words,  by  poison. 
Philip  Strozzi,  son  of  the  brave  but  unfortunate  Marshal 
Pietro  Strozzi,  became,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two, 
quarter-master  of  the  French  guards,  and  colonel-general  of 
the  French  infantry,  which  gave  him  almost  unlimited  au- 
thority. The  French  soldiers  murmured  at  being  placed  un- 
der his  orders.J 

Louis  de  Gonzaga  was  another  of  this  Italian  band.  One 
historian  calls  him  "  a  worthy  prince,"  but  his  worth  was 

*  "Non  sine  magna  procerum  indignatione."  Elsewhere  he  is  described 
as  a  "  monstrnm  nulla  virtute  redemptum." 

t  "Miroir  de  la  Justice  divine."     L'Estoile.  J  Davila,  i.  p.  500. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  321 

due  more  to  his  timidity  than  to  his  honesty.  *  These  were 
the  principal  confidants  of  the  queen-mother,  and  their  only 
aim  was  to  preserve  what  they  had  got.  The  chief  of  the 
Guises  was  Henry  of  Lorraine,  surnamed  "  le  Balafre."  He 
was  not  so  good  a  soldier  as  his  father,  but  was  at  all,  hand- 
some man,  with  keen  eye,  light  beard  and  curly  hair ;  liber- 
al to  profusion,  easy  in  speech,  well  read  in  Tacitus,  and  per- 
fect in  all  bodily  and  military  exercises.  But  his  good  qual- 
ities were  marred  by  an  insatiable  thirst  for  glory  and  a  de- 
sire for  authority.  When  Henry  III.  asked  how  it  was  that 
Duke  Henry  enchanted  every  body,  the  reply  was:  "He 
does  good  to  all  and  speaks  ill  of  none."  He  had  succeeded 
to  most  of  the  great  charges  of  his  father,  as  grand  master, 
high  chamberlain,  and  governor  of  Champagne. 

The  peace  of  St.  Germains  was  acceptable  to  the  larger 
portion  of  the  Huguenot  party,  many  of  whom  had  not  visited 
their  homes  since  the  first  outbreak  of  the  wars,  and  their  af- 
fairs had  become  so  disordered  that  ruin  appeared  almost  in- 
evitable. The  noise  of  the  trumpet  and  the  drum  had 
drowned  the  quieter  voice  of  religion,  the  Protestant  church- 
es were  decaying,  discipline  was  relaxed,  and  doctrine  becom- 
ing unsound.  A  general  synod  was  required  to  put  these 
matters  straight,  and  this,  the  seventh,  was  by  the  king's  per- 
mission held  at  Rochelle  in  April,  1571,  under  the  presidency 
of  Theodore  Beza.  The  Queen  of  Navarre  and  the  young 
princes  of  Beam  and  Conde  were  present  at  the  opening  cer- 
emony along  with  the  admiral  and  Count  Louis  of  Nassau. 
The  great  work  of  this  synod  was  to  revise  the  confession  of 
1559,  and  issue  an  authoritative  text,  of  which  three  copies  on 
parchment  were  made.  One  of  these  standards  was  to  be 
kept  at  Rochelle,  another  at  Geneva,  and  a  third  at  Pau 

*  He  was  made  Duke  of  Nevers  after  his  marriage  with  Henrietta  of 
Nevers,  sister  of  Catherine  of  Cloves,  the  widow  of  Prince  Porcien.  Hen- 
rietta was  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Nevers  and  Margaret  of  Bour- 
bon, sister  to  Anthony  of  Navarre.  Maria,  the  youngest  daughter,  married 
Henry  of  Conde  in  1572. 

X 


322  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

in  Beam.  The  first  and  last  disappeared  during  the  civil 
wars. 

Very  different  were  the  occupations  of  the  court,  which  an 
historian,  whom  I  have  often  consulted  with  advantage,  de- 
scribes as  being  "more  licentious  than  that  of  Francis  I., 
without  the  varnish  of  gallantry  which  conceals  the  excesses 
of  passion."  *  Catherine  was  fond  of  ease :  her  voluptuous 
Italian  nature  delighted  in  balls  and  masquerades,  in  fetes 
and  banquets.  She  could  now  once  more  indulge  her  taste 
for  the  arts,  and  during  this  period  we  find  her  busy  with 
her  new  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  laying  out  gardens,  talking 
with  Bernard  Palissy,  now  a  man  of  note ;  or  Avith  Jean  Bul- 
lant,  whose  reputation  has  been  dwarfed  by  the  greater  re- 
nown of  his  predecessor  Philip  do  1'Orme.  Wherever  she 
went,  a  gay  troop  of  beautiful  women  accompanied  her. 
Their  charms  were  employed  to  convert  the  queen's  foes  into 
friends,  and  to  learn  the  secrets  of  her  enemies.  "  Le  bal 
marcha  tou jours,"  growls  that  rough  old  .  warrior  Mont- 
luc. 

The  king's  mtf&iage  was  an  opportunity  for  gayeties  not 
to  be  lost.  It  is  said  that  one  of  his  motives  for  concluding 
the  treaty  of  St.  Germains  was  the  unwillingness  of  the  Em- 
peror Maximilian  to  part  with  his  daughter  while  France  was 
in  a  state  of  civil  commotion.  There  may  have  been  other 
causes  of  delay,  for  very  unfavorable  reports  of  the  king's  health 
and  disposition  had  got  abroad.  His  character  certainly  had 
not  improved  during  the  few  years  he  had  occupied  the 
throne.  lie  was  fond  of  athletic  sports,  and  excelled  in  jump- 
ing and  tennis.  He  took  delight  in  shoeing  horses  and  work- 
ing at  the  forge,  like  a  blacksmith.f  He  was  addicted  to  the 
chase  "even  to  frenzy,"  passing  whole  days  and  nights  in 
the  woods.  J  This  made  him  "  cruel  toward  beasts,  but  not  to- 

*  Capefigue. 

t  He  is  reported  t«  have  spent  several  hours  at  his  forge  on  the  very  cvc 
of  the  massacre. 

t  Under  date   22d  llarch,  1751,  Smith  writes  to  Burghley  from  Blois: 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  323 

ward  men."  *  Sometimes  he  and  his  madcap  associates 
would  tear  along  the  roads,  decapitating  any  unlucky  donkey 
he  might  encounter,  or  transfixing  stray  pigs  with  his  hunting 
spear,  f  Then,  as  if  maddened  by  the  sight  of  blood,  he  would 
dabble  in  their  entrails  like  a  butcher.  He  was  fond  of  prac- 
tical jokes ;  often  at  night  he  would  break  into  the  bedrooms 
of  his  young  companions,  pull  them  out  of  bed,  and  flog  them 
as  if  they  were  school-boys.  He  was  not  licentious,  and  Ma- 
rie Touchet  was  the  object  of  a  sincere  passion.  Perjury 
seemed  to  him  nothing  but  a  figure  of  speech  and  no  crime ; 
he  therefore  violated  his  word  as  often  as  it  seemed  profita- 
ble to  do  so.  But  fortunately  for  the  human  race  "men 
are  not  all  evil,"  and  in  his  lucid  moments — for  Charles  was 
at  times  quite  insane — he  appears  affectionate  and  desirous  of 
doing  what  is  right.  When  at  Bayonne,  he  quite  disgusted 
the  unscrupulous  Alva  by  saying  that  to  take  up  arms  against 
his  own  subjects  was  quite  out  of  the  question,  and  could 
only  be  followed  by  general  ruin.  Though  no  soldier,  he  had 
seen  service  at  the  sieges  of  Bourges,  Rouen,  Havre,  and  St. 
Jean  d'Angely,  and  possessed  all  the  ambition  of  his  race  to 
extend  the  frontiers  of  his  kingdom.  There  were  times  when 
he  courted  the  society  of  men  of  letters,  and  would  shut  him- 
self up  with  "  his  friends  "  Ronsard,  Baif ,  Passerat,  or  Theo- 
dore Corneille,  to  compose  verses.  Kor  was  he  himself  a 
stranger  to  the  Muses,  if  the  fragments  ascribed  to  him  are 
really  from  his  pen.  Even  his  treatise  on  hunting — La 
Chasse  royale — shows  him  to  have  possessed  considerable 
skill.  Such  was  the  man  to  whose  word  the  Huguenots  had 
entrusted  their  property  and  lives,  and  to  whom  the  Emperor 
of  Germany  was  about  to  entrust  his  daughter.  Perhaps  it 

"  Inordinate  hunting,  so  early  in  the  morning  and  so  late  at  night,  without 
sparing  frost,  snow,  or  rain,  and  in  so  despotic  a  manner  as  makes  her 
(Catherine)  and  those  that  love  him  to  be  often  in  great  fear." 

*  "  Sanguineum  reddebat  in  feras,  non  in  homines."  Raumer  (i.  p.  271) 
suggests  the  omission  of  non,  as  being  at  variance  with  history. 

t  The  Arc/lives  curieuses  (viii.)  contain  a  statement  of  the  sums  paid  by 
the  king  for  the  animals  thus  slain. 


324  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

was  hoped  that  the  amiable  Elizabeth  would  tame  him  down, 
as  in  later  years  and  in  another  country  Peter  the  Czar  was 
controlled  by  the  low-born  Catherine. 

The  betrothal  took  place  at  Spires  on  the  22d  of  October, 
and  the  marriage  was  solemnized  on  the  26th  of  November  at 
Mezieres.  The  festivities  by  which  it  was  followed  lasted  all 
winter.  In  the  following  March  the  new  queen  entered  Paris 
under  a  rustic  gate-way, "  finer  than  had  ever  been  seen  before, 
and  looking  quite  natural  on  account  of  the  herbs,  snails,  and 
lizards  depicted  on  it."  We  could  almost  fancy  it  a  contriv- 
ance of  Bernard  Palissy's.  The  queen  rode  in  an  open  litter 
hung  with  cloth  of  silver  within  and  without,  and  the  mules 
that  bore  it  were  similarly  adorned.  Elizabeth  herself  was 
covered  with  jewels,  and  wore  a  dazzling  crown  on  her  head. 
The  corporation  of  the  city  made  their  usual  tiresome  ha- 
rangues, which  they  followed  up  by  presenting  the  young  queen 
with  a  silver  gilt  buffet,  and  then  invited  her  to  partake  of  a 
collation  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  at  which  the  refreshments 
were  of  the  choicest  description.  "  There  was  every  kind  of 
fruit  found  in  the  world,  and  every  sort  of  meat  and  fish,  all 
made  out  of  sugar  and  looking  quite  natural."  The  dishes 
containing  these  chefs-d'oeuvre  of  the  confectionery  art  were 
also  of  silver.  Poets  and  musicians  contributed  in  their  re- 
spective departments,  and  the  king  was  so  pleased  with  their 
performances  that  they  were  induced — especially  Baif  and 
Theodore  Corneille — to  propose  the  founding  of  an  Academy 
of  Music  and  Poetry. 

The  decorations  of  the  bridge  of  Notre  Dame  will  serve  to 
show  the  magnificence  of  the  age  and  the  feelings  entertained 
by  the  court  with  regard  to  the  recent  pacification.  A  tri- 
umphal arch  had  been  erected  at  each  extremity,  and  the  road- 
way covered  in  by  an  awning  on  which  the  ciphers  and  heral- 
dic bearings  of  the  royal  pair  were  represented  in  flowers  and 
evergreens.  "It  looked  like  a  vision  of  the  Elysian  fields."* 

*  Recueil  de  ce  qui  a  ete  faict  a  I'entree,  etc. ,  in  the  Library  of  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  325 

Between  every  window  on  the  first  floor  of  the  houses  were 
half-figures  of  nymphs  bearing  fruits  and  flowers ;  above 
them  were  wreaths  of  laurel  from  which  depended  the  shields 
of  the  several  members  of  the  royal  family  with  emblematical 
devices.  At  the  crown  of  each  arch  stood  a  statue  on  an  al- 
tar :  in  one  place  a  Victory,  bound  to  an  olive-tree,  "  indicated 
allegorically  how  the  marriage  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  se- 
cured the  welfare  and  repose  of  their  people."  On  one  of  the 
panels  of  the  base  an  altar  was  represented,  by  the  side  of 
Avhich  stood  a  priest  in  his  sacerdotal  robes,  and  near  him  a 
lamb  for  the  sacrifice.  This  was  intended  to  signify  that 
whosoever  violated  the  Edict  of  Pacification  should  suffer  the 
fate  of  the  lamb.  At  the  four  corners  stood  four  armed  men 
representing  the  four  marshals  of  France,  empowered  to  carry 
out  and  enforce  the  edict.  Fo&dus  immortale  was  the  motto. 
On  another  panel  bees  were  represented  storing  honey  among  a 
pile  of  arms,  with  two  lines  from  Ovid,  showing  the  happy  ef- 
fects of  peace. 

In  another  place  a  spider  was  seen  weaving  his  web  over  a 
bundle  of  swords,  gauntlets,  morions,  and  such  like,  with  an 
inscription  from  Theocritus,  explaining  how  sure  a  sign 
this  was  of  peace  and  oblivion  of  past  quarrels.  But  among 
the  masques  given  during  these  nuptial  festivities  there  was 
one  in  which  Charles  IX.  appeared  as  Jupiter,  Elizabeth  as 
Minerva,  and  Catherine  as  Juno,  while  the  Huguenots  were 
represented  as  Typhon  aud  the  Giants.  One  of  the  devices 
was  strikingly  suggestive  of  impending  treachery : 

Cadme,  relinque  ratem  ;  pastoria  sibila  finge  ; 
Fas  superare  dolo,  quern  vis  non  vincit  aperta. 

It  would,  however,  be  unfair  to  give  political  importance  to 
what  was  probably  nothing  more  than  the  unauthorized  lan- 
guage of  a  court  poet.  One  little  incident  connected  with 
these  rejoicings  may  be  adduced,  however,  to  show  the  bigot- 
ed temper  of  the  Parisians:  they  were  scandalized  that  the 
court  should  amuse  itself  with  balls  and  banquets,  and  other 
festivities  during  the  season  of  Lent ! 


326  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

One  thing  was  wanting  to  these  rejoicings — none  of  the  Prot- 
estant leaders  were  present.  They  still  kept  aloof  at  Rochelle, 
endeavoring  to  give  consistency  to  their  affairs.  "  And  they 
did  wisely,"  says  the  Abbe  Perau  in  his  Life  of  Coligny; 
"for  orders  had  been  issued  to  arrest  the  principal  of  them 
immediately  upon  their  arrival."  This  statement,  although 
corroborated  by  the  compiler  of  the  "  Memoires  de  1'Etat  de 
France,"  may  well  be  doubted.  The  air  was  thick  with  suspi- 
cions, some  of  which  had  evidently  reached  the  German  Prot- 
estant courts ;  and  to  show  the  interest  they  took  in  the  con- 
dition of  their  co-religionists  in  France,  the  electors-palatine  of 
Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  the  dukes  of  Bavaria,  Brunswick, 
and  Wurtemburg,  and  others,  resolved  to  send  an  embassy  to 
congratulate  Charles  on  his  marriage.  Charles  received  the 
embassadors  at  Villars-Cotterets,  a  magnificent  mansion  built 
by  Francis  I.  They  began  by  complimenting  him :  "  Our  mas- 
ters know  that  your  majesty,  being  so  young,  was  not  the  au- 
thor of  the  late  war.  It  was  the  work  of  certain  turbulent 
and  wicked  men,  who  take  delight  in  disorders  and  confusion. 
Continue  to  deserve  that  most  august  of  titles — the  Peace- 
maker— and  punish  sternly  every  one  who  attempts  to  cause 
any  fresh  disturbance  in  your  kingdom.  ...  In  the  multitude 
of  people,  as  the  Wise  Man  saith,  is  the  king's  honor  (Prov- 
erbs xiv.  28),  and  the  principal  law  imposed  by  God  and  na- 
ture upon  kings  and  princes  is  the  preservation  of  their  sub- 
jects. Those  who  would  induce  you  to  break  your  faith,  say- 
ing that  it  is  impossible  for  a  state  to  exist  where  there  is  a 
diversity  of  religion,  speak  differently  from  what  they  think,  or 
are  ignorant  of  what  has  been  done  in  many  great  and  flour- 
ishing states."  The  embassadors  showed  him  that  the  Grand 
Turk  permitted  Christians  to  live  at  peace  in  his  dominions, 
that  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  had  come  to  terms  with  the 
Protestants  of  Germany,  and  that  even  the  pope  suffered  Jews 
to  settle  in  his  states.  "  God  alone,"  they  said,  "  can  command 
the  consciences  of  men ;  and  be  assured,  Sire,  that  those  are 
your  best  subjects  and  your  best  friends  who  urge  you  to  the 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  327 

observance  of  all  you  have  promised  in  your  edicts  of  peace." 
Charles  thanked  them  for  their  kind  expressions,  and  said 
that  it  was  his  ardent  desire  to  maintain  peace  between  all  his 
subjects,  as  the  sole  means  of  prosperity  to  his  kingdom.  He 
then  dismissed  the  embassadors  in  the  most  courteous  man- 
ner, embracing  them  and  loading  them  with  presents.  Charles 
used  similar  language  in  his  address  to  the  Parliament  of 
Paris  in  March,  1571.  "I thank  God,"  he  said  " that  the  troub- 
les are  over,  and  hope  above  all  things  to  establish  peace  so 
surely,  that  my  subjects  will  never  fall  again  into  the  calami- 
ties from  which  they  have  been  rescued.  I  will  set  to  work 
earnestly,  and  trust  that  you  will  support  me."  * 

Such  an  appeal  was  quite  necessary,  for  the  conciliatory 
Edict  of  St.  Germains — a  mere  repetition  of  the  articles  of 
the  treaty — had  not  always  been  scrupulously  carried  out. 
This  depended  in  great  measure  upon  the  views  the  provin- 
cial governors  took  of  the  edict;  some  rendering  it  almost 
nugatory  by  the  way  in  which  they  interpreted  it,  others 
giving  it  the  most  liberal  construction.  Thus  in  the  regula- 
tions published  at  Gap  (10th  February,  1571),  Montmorency- 
Damville,  relying  upon  the  Thirteenth  Article  of  the  treaty, 
forbade  the  Reformers  to  assemble  to  the  number  of  more 
than  ten  at  the  funeral  of  one  of  their  co-religionists.  And 
yet  this  was  considered  a  pacificatory  order.  He  also  assign- 
ed the  town  of  Chorges,  four  leagues  north  of  Gap,  as  the  au- 
thorized place  of  worship  for  the  Upper  Alps.  It  was  a  long 
distance  for  the  Reformers  to  go  every  Sunday;  but  these 
were  times  of  religious  fervor,  and  as  the  Huguenots  walked 
along,  singing  their  hymns,  they  forgot  the  fatigues  of  the 
way.f 

In  many  places,  the  clergy  in  their  pulpits  pandered  to  the 
worst  passions  of  their  ignorant  flocks.  The  king  and  the 
queen-mother  were  denounced  as  traitors — one  was  a  Judas, 

*  Hist,  de  France  (by  Le  Ffcre  de  Laval  and  Piguerre),  fol.  1581.    Mem. 
£tat  de  France,  i.  40. 
f  Charronet,  p.  65. 


328  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

the  other  a  Jezebel — because  they  did  not  order  the  "  rascally 
heretics  "  to  be  slaughtered.  The  fires  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah were  invoked  upon  the  heads  of  the  Huguenots.  "  Arise, 
Joshua,  and  smite  Makkeddah  with  the  edge  of  the  sword." 
Joshua  was  Anjou,  and  Makkeddah  Rochelle.  These  ravings 
did  not  fall  to  the  ground.*  On  Sunday,  the  4th  March,  1571, 
as  the  Protestants  of  Rouen  were  going  to  divine  worship  out- 
side the  city  walls,  they  were  attacked  and  beaten,  and  fifteen 
were  killed.  Still  greater  atrocities  had  been  perpetrated  at 
Orange  in  the  preceding  month,  the  murders  continuing  for 
three  days,  during  which  the  popular  fury  spared  neither 
women  nor  children.  Such  things  naturally  tended  to  make 
the  Huguenot  chiefs  suspicious,  and  to  perpetuate  the  divis- 
ion of  the  people  into  two  hostile  camps. 

The  great  object  of  the  Politicians  who  had  brought  about 
the  Treaty  of  St.  Germains,  was  to  make  France  independent 
at  home  and  respected  abroad ;  above  all  things,  to  get  rid  of 
Spanish  influence  in  their  domestic  affairs.  That  patriotic 
party  knew  well  how  Philip  II.  had  fomented  their  civil  dis- 
sensions,! and  they  saw  that  a  long  continuance  of  peace  was 
hopeless  unless  the  foreign  intriguers  could  be  got  rid  of. 
The  king  himself  had  a  glimpse  of  this  truth,  and  was  besides 
very  jealous  of  the  position  assumed  by  his  brother  o'f  Anjou. 

*  A  "chanson  "  of  this  period  strikingly  prefigures  the  massacre  of  1572. 
Here  is  one  verse  : 

Nos  capitainos,  corporiaux, 
Ont  des  coraelets  tout  nouveaux 

Et  des  cousteaux 
Pour  Hugenota  egorgetter 

Kt  une  escharpe  rouge 
Que  toua  voulons  porter,  etc.     Le  Roux  de  Lincy,  ii.  295. 

In  another  chanson  (No.  xvii.)  Coligny  is  threatened  : 

Pendu  &  une  potence, 
Paiaaant  de  aa  chair  et  peau 
Le  corbeau. 

t  "There  were  men  near  to  his  sovereign  (Charles  IX.)  who  wished  to 
bring  him  up  in  the  Reformed  religion  ;  but  he  (Philip)  would  anticipate 
them,  and  embroil  all  the  world  beforehand."  Letter  in  Le  Plat:  Mon. 
Hist.  Condi.  Trident.  Collect,  v.  p.  571  (4to.  Lovain,  1781-1787). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  329 

» 

The  queen-mother  also  expressed  her  dislike  of  the  attitude 
taken  by  Philip ;  but  she  was  so  thoroughly  false  that  no  re- 
liance could  be  placed  upon  any  thing  she  said.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary to  go  back  to  the  Treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis  in  1559, 
which  contained  nothing  particularly  humiliating,  and  had 
%been  condoned  by  the  subsequent  intercourse  between  the 
two  countries,  although  it  must  have  been  very  galling  to 
French  pride — as  indeed  to  the  pride  of  any  nation — to  sur- 
render its  conquests.  The  active  interference  of  Spain  in  the 
politics  of  France  began  with  the  criminal  intrigues  of  the 
house  of  Lorraine.  Their  fanatical  and  spurious  orthodoxy 
was,  as  we  h,ave  seen,  ardently  supported  by  Philip  II.,  who 
never  ceased  personally,  or  through  his  embassador,  to  urge 
the  complete  destruction  of  the  Huguenots.  He  even  went 
so  far,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  as  to  threaten  war,  if  the 
court  made  any  concession  to  the  heretics.  We  have  seen 
the  result :  France  had  been  rent  in  pieces  by  civil  war,  and 
Protestantism  was  as  strong  as  ever.  To  this  Spain  had 
brought  them :  might  it  not  be  possible,  by  reversing  the  pol- 
icy, to  reverse  the  results?  The  opportunity  was  not  unfavor- 
able, and  there  were  grievances  to  be  redressed.  The  Flem- 
ings were  still  in  open  revolt :  the  cruelties  of  the  blood- 
thirsty Alva  had  given  an  intensity  to  their  hatred,  which 
nothing  but  total  extermination  could  subdue.  It  would  not 
be  prudent  to  allow  the  duke  to  go  too  far,  and  if  by  a  word 
from  France  the  insurgents  could  be  stimulated  to  farther 
sacrifices,  Philip  II.  would  be  so  weakened  that  he  would 
cease  to  be  a  dangerous  neighbor.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  Spain  was  at  this  time  the  first  power  in  Europe.  The 
successes  of  Alva,  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors,  the  victory  of 
Lepanto,  and  the  conquests  in  Northern  Africa,  showed  that 
her  vigor  was  undiminished  ;  and  though  her  humiliation  was 
at  hand,  nothing  at  this  time  indicated  any  failure  of  her  re- 
sources. It  was  the  image  of  Daniel  r  gold,  silver,  brass, 
and  iron,  but  with  feet  of  clay;  and  the  small  stone  des- 
tined to  smite  it  was  one  of  the  smallest  powers  in  Europe. 


330  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Had  France  seen  her  own  true  interest,  she,  and  not  England, 
might  "  have  become  a  great  mountain  and  filled  the  whole 
earth." 

The  Venetian  embassador,  Correro,  writing  on  the  prospect 
of  war  with  Spain,  represents,  as  one  of  the  many  grounds  of 
hatred  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  French,  that  Flanders , 
naturally  belongs  to  France,  and  that  a  campaign  to  recover 
it  would  give  employment  to  the  cadets  of  the  noble  families. 
It  would  not  cost  a  drop  of  blood,  if  France  were  only  to 
promise  "  the  same  liberty  of  conscience  which  her  own  sub- 
jects enjoyed."  Add  to  this,  Charles  was  offended  :  "  Spain 
seemeth  to  set  the  king  here  very  light,  which  engendreth 
in  him  a  great  desire  of  revenge,  but  lacketh  treasure  to  make 
open  demonstration  thereof."  * 

These  were  the  ideas,  not  of  Protestants  only,  but  of  un- 
doubted Catholics,  men  of  whose  orthodoxy  there  can  be  no 
suspicion.  L'Hopital  had  once  been  the  directing  spirit  of 
this  moderate  party ;  but,  since  his  retirement  from  public 
life,  Marshal  Francis  Montmorency,  eldest  son  of  the  consta- 
ble, became  their  leader.  Philip  knew  him  well,  and  feared 
him  as  the  most  formidable  of  his  enemies  in  France.  He 
was  seconded  by  his  brother  Damville,  by  Cosse,  Biron,  and 
others.  It  was  Montmorency  who  (according  to  Tavannes) 
had  saved  the  Huguenots  at  Moncontour  by  preventing  the 
victory  from  being  followed  up ;  and,  according  to  Walsing- 
ham,  the  Peace  of  St.  Germains  was  his  work.  By  the  mere 
force  of  personal  character,  he  had  become  a  very  influential 
man,  and  Charles  showed  him  the  greatest  affection.  One 
day,  when  the  king  had  visited  him  at  his  castle  of  Chantilly, 
he  told  his  royal  master  that  there  could  be  no  lasting  peace, 
unless  Protestants  and  Catholics  could  be  persuaded  to  live 
together  in  harmony  :  that,  or  the  extermination  of  one  of  the 
parties,  was  the  only  alternative.  But  how  was  the  present 
hostile  state  of  things  to  be  remedied  ?  By  uniting  both  par- 

*  Walsingham,  25th  June,  1571. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  331 

ties  against  their  common  enemy,  Spain.*  It  is  not  known 
with  whom  the  idea  arose,  whether  with  Montmorency  or 
Cosse ;  but  it  was  eagerly  taken  up  by  the  king,  who  hoped 
in  the  coming  war  to  gather  laurels  that  would  shame  those 
won  by  his  brother  of  Anjou. 

A  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  distrust  had  for  some  time  past 
been  growing  up  between  France  and  Spain.  When  the  Duke 
of  Alva  had  asked  permission  to  recruit  volunteers  in  France 
for  the  Flemish  war,  it  was  refused,  lest  the  Huguenots  should 
think  it  "a  device  to  reach  themselves.''!  To  the  demand 
that  certain  ships,  supposed  to  be  fitting  out  at  La  Rochelle 
against  Spain,  should  be  seized,  Mondoucet,  the  French  agent 
to  Alva,  replied  that  some  of  the  ships  were  intended  to  act 
against  the  pirates  who  infested  the  narrow  seas,  and  as  for 
those  which  belonged  to  private  persons,  the  crown  could  not 
interfere.  St.  Goar,  the  embassador  at  Madrid,  was  instruct- 
ed to  make  similar  explanations.  This  was  a  mere  evasion, 
for  the  power  of  the  crown  had  never  been  so  limited  in 
France.  As  William  of  Orange  was  in  want  of  funds  to 
carry  on  his  heroic  struggle  in  Flanders,  his  brother  Louis  of 
Nassau  endeavored  to  procure  a  loan  from  Duke  Cosmo  I.  of 
Florence.  Charles  supported  the  scheme  by  offering  to  rec- 
ognize the. duke's,  title  to  the  crown  of  Tuscany,  and  aid  him 
in  his  attempt  on  Corsica,  provided  he  would  assist  the  Flem- 
ish insurgents  with  money.J  The  duke  refused,  but  the  king 
still  continued  faithful  to  his  idea  of  a  war  against  Spain. 
The  diplomatic  correspondence  of  the  period  is  full  of  refer- 
ences to  it.  During  all  this  time  Coligny  was  actively  cor- 
responding with  Montmorency ;  and  at  his  suggestion  a  pri- 
vate interview  was  arranged  between  Charles  and  Count 
Louis,  which  took  place  in  a  garden  of  the  castle  of  Lumigny, 
about  a  league  from  Fontenay-en-Brie,  where  the  king  had 

*  "  Che  '1  Francese  sia  quasi  necessitate  desiderare  la  guerra  con  Spagn- 
uoli."  Tommaseo :  Relations  Venitiennes,  ii.  p.  171. 

t  Walsingham  to  Leicester,  5th  March,  1572;  Digges,  p.  49. 
J  Alberi :   Vita  di  Caterina  de'  Medici. 


332  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

gone  on  the  pretense  of  rabbit  hunting.  Its  object  was  kept 
a  secret  from  the  royal  councilors ;  for  Charles  was  well  as- 
sured that  if  they  became  acquainted  with  it,  they  would  com- 
municate it  to  the  court  of  Spain.  We  may  imagine  that  the 
count  spoke  of  his  recent  conversations  with  the  admiral,  and 
that,  as  a  Protestant,  he  would  not  start  objections  to  any 
plan  of  assisting  his  fellow-countrymen  which  the  king  might 
entertain.  He  gave  weight  to  his  prayer  for  aid  by  offering 
in  return  the  valuable  provinces  of  Flanders  and  Artois  (for 
which  promise  he  had  no  authority  from  his  brother  Wil- 
liam) ;  and  hinted  that,  at  the  next  vacation  of  the  empire, 
the  choice  of  the  electors  might  fall  upon  Charles.  Louis 
succeeded  in  convincing  him  that  his  former  advisers  had 
counseled  him  unwisely,  and  that  he  had  narrowly  escaped 
falling  into  the  same  position  as  Philip  II.  held  toward  his 
Flemish  subjects.  The  king  promised  to  take  into  his  most 
serious  consideration  all  that  the  count  had  told  him,  reserv- 
ing to  himself  the  right  to  disavow  any  projects  that  might 
be  ascribed  to  him,  until  the  time  for  action  had  arrived.* 
The  secret  interview  soon  became  known,  and  the  Spanish 
embassador,  Alava,  threatened  the  displeasure  of  his  royal  mas- 
ter. Charles  and  his  mother  both  answered  evasively,  add- 
ing :  "  As  for  fearing  us  with  wars,  you  do  mistake  us ;  let 
every  one  do  therein  what  best  liketh  him."f  Affairs  were 
hurrying  on  more  quickly  than  Charles  had  anticipated; 
Spain  was  threatening  war,  and  no  preparations  had  been 
made.  A  matrimonial  alliance  between  Anjou  and  Elizabeth, 
which  would  place  the  resources  of  England  at  the  disposal 
of  France,  was  the  key  of  the  position ;  but  the  queen .  was 
coy,  and  refused  to  give  a  decided  answer.  Without  such 
close  alliance  war  with  Spain  was  impossible ;  for  En- 

*  Walsingham  (Gth  August,  1571)  gives  an  account  of  this  interview  from 
tho  report  of  the  prince  himself.  Digges,  p.  174.  The  £tat  de  France  (i. 
44.)  says  Catherine  was  present,  which  is  a  mistake. 

t  Walsingham  to  Burleigh,  12th  August,  1571.  "  Galli  apud  Hispanos 
in  tantum  suspicioncm  vivere."  Schardlus  Rediv.  iv.  p.  177. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  333 

gland  cast  a  longing  eye  on  Flanders,  and  would  regard  the 
French  conquests  in  that  quarter  with  suspicion.  What  was 
to  be  done  ?  Should  Charles  give  way,  or  brave  the  conse- 
quences ?  There  was  only  one  man  in  France  competent  to 
advise  on  such  a  point,  and  he  still  remained  aloof  at  Ro- 
chelle. 

When  Louis  of  Nassau  left  that  city  to  confer  with 
Charles,  he  bore  a  letter  from  the  admiral,  complaining  of  a 
plot  that  had  been  got  up  to  treat  the  Huguenots  worse  than 
before,  and  that  no  attempt  had  been  made  to  punish  the  pei-- 
petrators  of  the  outrages  at  Orange  and  Rouen.  He  then 
went  on  to  justify  his  suspicions  and  his  absence  from  the 
court :  "  It  will  be  difficult  for  those  of  the  religion  to  be- 
lieve that  your  majesty  desires  things  should  go  on  well,  so 
long  as  they  see  the  authors  of  the  tumults  about  him." 
He  followed  up  this  side-blow  at  the  Guises  by  suggesting 
that  all  suspicions  would  be  allayed  were  the  king  to  punish 
the  perpetrators  of  the  outrages  at  Rouen  and  Orange. 
Charles  IX.  acted  upon  the  advice  :  he  sent  a  commission  of 
inquiry  to  Rouen.  Many  of  the  rioters  were  hanged,  but 
the  ringleaders  escaped  and  found  shelter  among  the  Catho- 
lics, who  seem  to  have  received  them  rather  as  heroes  than  as 
criminals ;  much  in  the  same  way  as  a  murderer  is  still  har- 
bored among  the  Irish  peasantry.  The  king  also  manifested 
great  displeasure  toward  his  brother  of  Anjou,  and  so  openly 
insulted  the  Duke  of  Guise  that  he  had  no  alternative  but  to 
leave  the  court. 

Count  Louis  returned  to  Rochelle  strongly  impressed  with 
the  king's  gracious  demeanor,  and  urged  Coligny  to  accept 
his  sovereign's  invitation  to  court.  He  spoke  of  the  project- 
ed matrimonial  alliance  between  England  and  France,  which 
was  manifestly  hostile  to  Spain,  and  would  strengthen  the 
Huguenot  cause ;  and  showed  the  draft  of  a  treaty,  by  which 
Charles  promised  to  attack  Flanders  on  one  side,  while  the 
Prince  of  Orange  attacked  it  on  the  other.  Marshal  Cosse, 
one  of  the  "  Politicians,"  confirmed  this  report.  The  admi- 


334  MASSACRE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ral's  son-in-law,  Teligny,  had  also  returned  from  the  court  with 
a  flattering  account  of  the  king's  demeanor.  Charles  at  this 
time  was  seen  in  a  most  favorable  light,  and  it  was  evident 
that  the  quiet  influence  of  his  amiable  wife  was  beginning  to 
be  felt  in  his  character.  He  was  less  boisterous  in  his  amuse- 
ments, less  changeable  in  temper,  and  seemed  to  have  buried 
the  past  in  oblivion.  Indeed  he  went  so  far  in  his  display  of 
good-will  toward  the  Huguenots  as  to  raise  a  suspicion  that 
he  supported  them  designedly  against  his  mother,  his  brother 
Henry,  and  the  Guises.  "  I  am  no  longer  so  young,"  he  said, 
"  as  to  need  a  governor.  I  am  willing  to  listen  to  advice,  but 
will  receive  no  orders.  I  am  sick  of  war,  and  my  peace  shall 
be  observed.  I  have  been  deceived  all  along  about  the 
Huguenots,  and  for  the  future  will  keep  the  factions  in  order 
myself."  He  complained  to  Teligny,  for  whom  he  had  con- 
ceived a  strong  liking,*  that  his  mother  kept  him  in  thraldom, 
and  preferred  Anjou  to  him ;  that  she  governed  the  realm 
in  such  a  way  that  he  was  of  no  account ;  and  that  to  remedy 
this  he  was  resolved  to  send  both  of  them  away  from  the 
court ;  and  that  he  wanted  Coligny's  advice,  especially  with 
regard  to  the  proposed  war  in  Flanders.  In  fact  every  thing 
seemed  now  to  turn  upon  the  admiral's  presence  at  court. 

While  these  negotiations  were  in  progress,  the  little  Hugue- 
not court  at  Rochelle  was  the  scene  of  nuptial  festivities,  the 
admiral  having  taken  a  second  wife,  and  given  his  daughter 
Louisa  to  Teligny.f  Coligny's  marriage  had  a  tinge  of  ro- 
mance in  it  that  could  hardly  have  been  expected.  Jacque- 
line of  Montbel,  Countess  of  Entremont,  and  widow  of  Claude, 
Baron  of  Anthon,  who  was  killed  at  Dreux  (or,  as  others 
write,  at  St.  Denis),  was  so  captivated  by  his  heroism  that 


*  Walsingham  to  Leicester  (22d  April,  1571)  shows  Teligny's  footing 
with  the  king.  The  embassador  hints  at  opposition  to  the  war  against 
Spain  lest  it  should  give  the  management  to  other  hands  and  parties. 

t  After  Teligny's  murder  she  married  William  of  Orange.  The  present 
Count  of  Paris  is  descended  from  Louisa  of  Coligny,  through  his  mother 
Helena  of  Mecklenburg. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  335 

she  made  him  an  offer  of  her  hand,  having  the  ambition  (as 
she  said)  to  be  the  Marcia  of  the  new  Cato.*  As  if  he  were 
of  royal  lineage,  the  admiral  was  married  by  proxy.  When 
the  bride  approached  Rochelle,  escorted  by  fifty  gentlemen  of 
her  kindred,  the  bridegroom  went  out  a  league  to  meet  her. 
Cannon  roared  a  noisy  salute,  and  all  the  bells  which  the 
Huguenots  had  spared  rang  merrily  from  the  steeples,  as  the 
noble  lady  entered  the  city.  To  show  their  esteem  for  the  ad- 
miral, the  citizens  mustered  under  arms  and  lined  the  streets 
from  the  gate  to  the  Hotel  Coligny,  where  a  great  concourse  of 
nobles  and  gentlemen  had  assembled  to  do  him  honor. 
The  marriage  was  a  happy  one,  despite  the  inversion  of  the 
ordinary  mode  of  courtship.  On  becoming  a  widow  once 
more,  Jacqueline  returned  to  Savoy,  where  she  was  imprison- 
ed on  a  charge  of  witchcraft,  her  wealth  being  the  real  crime. 
Henry  IV.  ineffectually  interceded  for  her,  and  she  died  in- 
sane at  the  castle  of  Nice,  1599. 

Coligny,  happy  in  his  domestic  life,  had  little  desire  to 
leave  Rochelle  for  the  treacherous  atmosphere  of  the  court. 
But  Charles  could  not  do  without  him,  and  Elizabeth  of  En- 
gland felt  that  his  presence  was  necessary  for  the  success  of 
the  delicate  negotiations  then  in  hand.  Walsingham  had 
written  to  her,  recommending  that  she  should  hint  to  La 
Mothe-Fenelon,  the  French  embassador,  that  she  would  .like 
to  see  Charles  "  calling  the  princes  and  admiral  to  court, 
and  that  so  rare  a  subject  as  the  admiral  is,  was  not  to  be 
suffered  to  live  in  such  a  corner  as  Rochelle."  Walsingham 
adds  that  the  king  was  now  "  very  well  affected  toward  him  " 
(Coligny).  In  another  letter  he  says  he  is  going  to  Blois, 
where  the  princes  and  the  admiral  are  to  meet,  and  that  all 


*  She  admired  in  Colipny  "  un  assortimcnt  rare  de  vertus  et  de  talens  qu:. 
lui  rendaient  la  haute  idee  dp  1'ancien  he'roisme."  Arcere :  Hist.  Rochelle 
(4to.  1756),  i.  p.  392.  In  order  to  prevent  the  marriage,  the  nuncio  Sal- 
viati  proposed  her  assassination:  "Lc  remede  serait  de  se  de'barrasser,  par 
tons  les  moyens  possibles,  dc  cette  me'chante  fiance'e."  Coquerel :  La  Sainte- 
Barthelemy  (Paris,  1859),  p.  27,  note. 


336  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

"  opposition  was  vain."  "  I  am  most  constantly  assured  that 
the  king  conceiveth  of  no  subject  he  hath  better  than  of 
the  admiral,  and  great  hope  there  is  that  the  king  will  use 
him  in  matters  of  greatest  trust;  for  of  himself  he  begin- 
neth  to  see  the  insufficiency  of  others :  some  for  that  they  are 
more  addicted  to  others  than  to  himself ;  other,  for  that  they 
are  more  Spanish  than  French.  .  .  .  The  queen-mother,  see- 
ing her  son  so  well  affected  toward  the  admiral,  laboreth  by 
all  means  to  cause  him  to  think  well  of  her."*  Catherine 
had  assured  Teligny  and  Count  Louis  that  she  earnest- 
ly desired  the  Treaty  of  St.  Germains  to  be  observed  for  the 
repose  and  welfare  of  the  kingdom;  that  the  king  need, 
ed  the  admiral's  advice;  and  that  it  was  a  sad  thing 
for  the  princes  of  the  blood  to  keep  aloof  from  the  court. 
Coligny  gave  way  at  last ;  and  when  the  Queen  of  Navarre 
expostulated  with  him  he  replied :  "  Madame,  I  confide  im- 
plicitly in  the  word  and  honor  of  my  royal  master.  It  is  not 
life  to  exist  in  the  midst  of  perpetual  alarms ;  and  I  would 
rather  die  by  one  effectual  blow,  than  live  a  hundred  years 
subject  to  cowardly  apprehensions."  He  received  many 
warnings,  but  took  no  heed  of  them. 

The  admiral  left  Rochelle  escorted  by  fifty  gentlemen,  "  not 
because  he  doubted  the  king's  word,  but  to  be  secure  against 
private  enemies,"  and  arrived  at  Blois  on  the  12th  September, 
where  he  was  received  with  the  most  flattering  attentions. 
Being  conducted  into  the  audience-chamber  he  fell  on  his 
knees,  but  Charles  raised  him  up  saying,  as  he  embraced  him, 
"  Father,  we  have  you  at  last ;  you  shall  not  escape  when  you 
wish.  This  is  the  happiest  day  of  my  life.  You  are  more 
welcome  than  any  one  I  have  seen  these  twenty  years."  The 
queen-mother  kissed  him,  and  took  him  into  Anjou's  apart- 
ments, for  the  young  duke  was  just  then  "a  little  indis- 
posed." f  The  admiral  was  quite  charmed  with  his  youthful 

*  Digges,  p.  122.     Walsingham  to  Burghley,  12th  August,  1571. 
t  About  this  time  Catherine  wrote  to  La  Mothe-Fcnelon :  "  L'amiral  est 
ici  avec  nous,  qui  ne  desire  rien  plus  que  d'aider  en  tout  ce  qu'il  pent  .  .  . 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  337 

sovereign »  they  were  so  much  together,  and  so  often  in  pri- 
vate conference,  that  Catherine  grew  jealous :  "  He  sees  too 
much  of  the  admiral,"  she  said, "  and  too  little  of  me."  *  The 
chief  topic  of  their  conversation  was  the  proposed  war  in 
Flanders.  It  was  a  maxim  with  Coligny,  that  France  could 
not  be  quieted  down  except  by  engaging  in  a  foreign  war. 
When  Brantome  was  at  Rochelle  he  told  the  gossiping  abbe, 
that  if  "  the  Huguenots  were  not  occupied  and  amused  abroad, 
they  would  certainly  begin  their  quarrels  again  at  home ;  such 
restless  fellows  are  they,  and  so  fond  of  plunder."  In  the  Low 
Countries  he  saw  a  field  for  their  activity.  Warming  at  the 
thoughts  of  the  sufferings  which  the  Protestants  of  Flanders 
had  endured  so  long,  he  expatiated  to  the  king  on  the  heroic 
patience  of  William  of  Orange,  and  the  glorious  opportunity 
then  presented  of  repaying  Spain  for  the  evils  she  had  inflict- 
ed on  France.  Charles  caught  fire  at  the  eloquent  appeal :  the 
martial  ardor  of  his  race  broke  out  in  him:  "I  too. shall  win 
battles — in  my  own  name — with  my  own  sword."  He  entered 
into  the  scheme  with  his  whole  heart,  and  promised  effectual 
help  to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  to  whom  he  had  already  restored  . 
his  little  principality  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhone.  Nor  did  he 
forget  the  admiral,  whose  property  had  been  confiscated :  he 
was  reinstated  in  his  seat  at  the  council-board,  and  received  a 
present  of  100,000  crowns,  "not  so  much  a  wedding-gift  as  a 
tribute  to  the  first  captain  of  the  age."  Charles  farther  prom- 
ised to  use  his  influence  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  restore 
the  estates  of  his  wife  which  had  been  sequestered.  He  also 
interceded  in  behalf  of  certain  Vaudois,  who  for  fighting  tinder 
Coligny  had  been  stripped  of  their  property  and  expelled 
from  their  homes.  "  I  wish  to  make  you  a  request,"  wrote 
the  king  to  the  duke,  "  and  it  is  on  a  matter  that  I  have  very 
much  at  heart.  At  my  special  prayer  and  recommendation, 

commc  nussi  a  s'etnployer  en  toutes  choses  concernnnt  le  bien  du  service  da 
roi  comme  son  fiddle  sujet."    27th  September,  1571. 

*  Fe'nelon  to  the  king,  30th  September,  1571,  repeating  Walsingham's 
dispatch  to  his  own  government. 

Y 


338  MASS  ACHE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

pray  receive  these  poor  creatures  into  favor  again,  and  restore 
them  to  their  homes  and  their  goods.  The  cause  is  so  just 
and  so  earnestly  desired  on  my  part,  that  I  feel  assured  you 
will  listen  to  me.  Written  at  Blois,  28th  September,  1571." 

After  a  brief  stay  at  court  the  admiral  went  to  Chatillon, 
where  he  tried  to  restore  order  to  his  affairs.  The  king  reg- 
ularly corresponded  with  him,  chiefly  on  his  favorite  subject, 
the  war  with  Spain.  Meanwhile  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  in 
Paris,  and  the  rumor  of  his  proceedings  and  conversations 
became  so  threatening,  that  Coligny  petitioned  for  a  guard  of 
soldiers  to  protect  him.  Charles  replied  with  his  own  hand, 
that  he  would  be  pleased  to  see  the  admiral  "  using  all  dili- 
gence in  providing  for  his  personal  safety,"  and  permitted  him 
to  have  the  guard  he  needed.*  Coligny  stayed  five  weeks  at 
Chatillon,  receiving  many  warnings  as  to  the  treachery  of  the 
court,  but  paying  no  attention  to  them,  making  the  same 
answer  to  all  which  he  had  given  to  his  wife  before  leaving 
Rochelle :  "  I  must  not  upon  ill-grounded  suspicion  cause  the 
king  to  change  the  good  feeling  he  entertains  for  us  into  a 
hatred  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  make  him  lay  aside 
again."  .  At  the  end  of  October  he  went  to  Paris,  whither  he 
had  been  summoned.  Catherine  took  him  in  her  arms  and 
kissed  him,  and  Charles  received  him  as  if  honoring  him 
above  all  his  subjects.!  The  object  of  the  visit  was  to  consult 
about  the  marriage  of  Henry  of  Beam  with  Margaret  of  Val- 
ois,  the  king's  sister. 

While  Charles  was  on  a  visit  to  Chantilly,  Francis  of  Mont- 
morency  had  suggested  that  the  best  means  of  conciliating  the 
hostile  parties  would  be  to  unite  his  sister  Margaret  to  Prince 
Henry  of  Bearn.J  This  union  between  the  two  branches  of 
the  royal  house  was  no  new  scheme.  The  prince,  while  yet  a 
child,  was  presented  to  Henry  II.,  who  was  so  pleased  with 

*  Mem.  of  Coligny.      Translated  by  D.  D.  Scott  (12mo.  Edinburgh,  1844). 
t  Fcnclon's  Dispatches,  October,  1571. 

J  La  maison  de  Montmorenoy  e'taient  ceux  qui  en  araient  porte'  les  pre- 
mieres paroles."  Mem.  de  Marguerite. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  339 

the  boy  that  he  asked  him  if  he  would  be  his  son.  "This  is 
my  father,"  replied  the  child  in  the  Bearnais  patois,  pointing 
to  the  King  of  Navarre.  "  Well  then,"  said  the  king,  "  will 
you  be  my  son-in-law  ?"  "  Oh !  with  all  my  heart,"  answered 
the  sturdy  little  fellow,  and  from  that  time  his  marriage  with 
Margaret,  a  princess  four  years  old,  was  resolved  upon.  An- 
thony of  Navarre  was  delighted,  and  wrote  to  his  sister  the 
Duchess  of  Nevers  (Margaret  of  Bourbon),  that  "this  alliance 
was  the  thing  in  the  world  he  most  desired  to  obtain,  and 
which  from  thenceforward  placed  both  his  repose  and  prosper- 
ity upon  a  secure  basis."  Joan  also  wrote  to  an  old  friend : 
"  To  cheer  and  console  you  in  your  sickness,  I  send  you  the 
news  .  .  .  that  his  majesty  has  been  pleased  to  grant  this 
favor,  for  which  I  will  not  try  to  conceal  the  joy  and  sat- 
isfaction I  feel."  This  was  in  1557 ;  and  in  1560,  soon  after 
the  death  of  Francis  II.,  Catherine  wrote  to  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, pressing  her  to  visit  the  court,  and  proposing  to  connect 
the  families  still  closer  by  a  marriage  between  "little  Cather- 
ine "  of  Beam  and  Henry  Duke  of  Anjou :  "  Such  an  alliance," 
she  said,  "  will  render  our  union  indissoluble."  This,  however, 
never  came  to  any  thing;  but  in  1562  we  find  the  project  re- 
vived, when  Catherine  feared  that  Anthony  of  Navarre  was 
slipping  out  of  her  control.* 

At  one  time  it  had  been  proposed  to  give  Margaret  to  Se- 
bastian of  Portugal,  the  same  romantic  king  who  died  battling 
valiantly  against  the  Moors  in  Africa.  But  that  match  failing 
through  the  hostility  of  Philip  II.,  who  grossly  insulted  the 
French  court,  an  alliance  was  sought  nearer  home.  Marga- 
ret tells  us  how  the  matter  was  first  broached,  and  what  was 
her  reply :  "I  begged  my  mother  to  remember  that  I  was  very 
Catholic."  Joan  of  Navarre,  who  had  since  adopted  the  Re- 
formed creed,  was  not  so  eager  for  the  marriage  as  she  had 
once  been.  Far  from  being  dazzled  by  the  prospect  of  such  a 
brilliant  alliance  for  the  heir  of  the  petty  house  of  Navarre, 

*  Chantonnay's  letter  of  23d  May,  1562 ;  also  hinted  at  in  Auhcspine, 
p.  844. 


340  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

she  said :  "  I  would  rather  descend  to  be  the  lowliest  woman 
in  France,  than  sacrifice  my  son,  or  my  son's  soul,  to  grand- 
eur."* It  would  have  been  well  for  Prince  Henry  had  the 
obstacles  raised  against  the  marriage  proved  insurmountable. 
It  was  naturally  opposed  by  the  Guises;  not,  as  some  write, 
because  the  duke  aspired  to  Margaret's  hand ;  for  he  had  been 
married  several  months  to  Catherine  of  Cleves,  the  widow  of 
Prince  Porcien ;  f  but  because  it  would  strengthen  the  throne, 
and  make  the  Huguenot  influence  predominant.  The  nuncio 
and  the  Spanish  embassador  also  opposed  the  match ;  J  but 
Charles  was  not  to  be  diverted  from  his  purpose.  § 

Thus  the  summer  of  1571  passed  away:  on  the  one  side, 
Spain,  the  pope,  and  the  house  of  Lorraine  striving  to  prevent 
a  reconciliation  between  the  two  religious  parties ;  on  the  other 
the  "  Politicians,"  with  Coligny  and  the  English  embassador, 
trying  to  bring  about  two  marriages  that  would,  it  was  hoped, 
counterbalance  the  influence  of  the  Catholic  powers.  Cather- 
ine was  ostentatiously  sincere,!  and  Charles  anxious  to  do 
what  was  right,  and  in  his  weakness  leaning  on  Coligny,  whom 
he  had  learned  to  trust  as  a  child  trusts  his  father.  There  was 
much  in  the  admiral  to  attract  the  king :  he  was  a  man  of  prob- 
ity and  honor,  actuated  by  no  mean  or  selfish  motives,  but  by 
the  purest  desire  for  the  greatness  of  France.  Charles  had  never 
possessed  such  a  friend  before.  What  he  thought  of  those 
about  him  may  be  conjectured  from  his  .remarks  one  day  to 
Teligny :  "  Tavannes  is  a  good  councilor,  but  jealous  of  any 
encroachment  upon  his  fame;  Vieilleville  loves  nothing  but 
good  wine  ;  Cosse  is  a  miser,  who  would  sell  every  thing  for 

*  Walsingham  to  Leicester,  17th  February,  1571. 

+  He  was  married  17th  September,  1570. 

J  Popeliniere,  ii.  fol.  44  b. 

§  Charles  to  De  Ferrals,  5th  October,  1571.  "The  most  eminent  and 
faithful  of  my  servants  agree  with  me  that,  in  the  present  condition  of  my 
kingdom,  this  marriage  is  the  best  means  of  ending  all  troubles."  Raumer, 
i.  277.  The  correspondence  in  Digges  is  to  the  same  effect. 

||  Walsingham  writes  16th  August:  "The  queen-mother  had  provided 
both  jewels  and  wedding."  Digges,  p.  135. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  341 

ten  crowns ;  Montmorency  is  a  good  man,  but  then  he  is  always 
away  with  his  hawks  and  hounds ;  Retz  is  a  Spaniard  in  heart, 
and  the  rest  of  my  court  and  council  are  fools.  My  secretaries 
are  traitors,  so  that  I  do  not  know  whom  to  trust."  *  The 
censure  is  too  sweeping ;  but  the  language  shows  how  weary 
Charles  had  grown  of  his  old  councilors,  and  how  he  clung  to 
the  new.  At  another  time,  conversing  with  the  admiral  about 
the  Flemish  campaign,  he  said :  "  Father,  there  is  another 
matter  which  you  must  carefully  heed.  The  queen,  my  mother, 
is  always  poking  her  nose  everywhere,  as  you  well  know,  and 
she  must  not  be  told  of  this  enterprise,  at  least  not  in  detail. 
She  would  mar  our  design."  "  As  you  please,  Sire ;  nevertheless 
I  hold  her  majesty  for  so  good  a  mother,  that  even  if  she  were 
told  all,  she  would  offer  no  obstacle ;  on  the  contrary,  she  might 
naturally  aid  our  design ;  while  I  apprehend  many  difficulties 
in  hiding  the  matter."  "  You  are  quite  wrong,"  rejoined  the 
king ;  "  leave  the  matter  to  me.  My  mother  is  the  greatest 
mischief-maker  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 

If  this  anecdote  were  authenticated,  it  would  show  that  the 
king  and  the  admiral  were  actually  plotting  against  the  gov- 
ernment ;  for,  whatever  may  have  been  Coligny's  position  as 
private  adviser  to  his  sovereign,  he  was  not  a  minister,  although 
in  the  council,  and  held  no  responsible  position.  But  it  is 
scarcely  credible  that  Catherine,  with  her  influence  and  means 
of  procuring  information,  could  have  been  kept  in  the  dark ; 
and,  besides,  it  is  quite  clear  from  her  language  to  the  Spanish 
embassador,  that  she  knew  all  about  the  proposed  war  in 
Flanders.  Nor  does  she  appear  at  any  time  to  have  objected 
to  it.  If  the  English  matrimonial  alliance  was  the  key  of  her 
policy,  the  war  against  Spain  was  an  inevitable  pendant. 
Union  between  France  and  England  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury necessarily  meant  armed  opposition  to  the  policy  of 
Philip  II. 

During  the  winter  an  event  occurred  which  has  tended  very 

*  Le  Tocsain  (ed.  1579),  p.  77. 


3-i2       .      MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

much  to  complicate  this  period  of  history.  The  king  had  gone 
to  Bourgueil  on  the  Loire,  about  ten  miles  from  Saumur,  to  re- 
ceive a  Protestant  deputation.  Their  chief  spokesman,  Brique- 
maut,  after  complaining  of  the  infringement  of  the  Edict  of 
St.  Germains,  more  by  omission  than  commission,  imprudently 
added  that,  unless  their  grievances  were  remedied,  it  was  to 
be  feared  that  the  Huguenots  would  take  counsel  of  despair, 
and  once  more  rush  to  arms.  The  king  listened  calmly  and 
dismissed  the  deputation  graciously;  but  as  soon  as  they  had 
retired,  he  burst  into  a  violent  passion,  and  indulged  in  san- 
guinary threats.  Lignerolles,  one  of  the  "  mignons  "  of  the 
Duke  of  Anjou,  drawing  near,  whispered  in  his  majesty's  ear : 
"  Be  patient,  Sire,  a  little  while  longer,  and  you  will  have  them 
all  in  your  net."  The  king  was  startled  to  hear  another  give 
utterance  to  his  own  secret  thoughts,  and  resolved  to  make 
away  with  a  man  whom  he  suspected  of  knowing  the  particu- 
lars of  a  plot  which  had  been  qraftily  devised  to  get  rid  of  the 
admiral  and  the  chief  Huguenots  at  one  blow.  The  authentic- 
ity of  this  very  circumstantial  story  is  more  than  doubtful.  All 
we  know  for  certain  is,  that  Lignerolles  was  murdered,  and 
that  the  assassins  were  imprisoned,  and  would  have  been  pun- 
ished, had  not  the  great  massacre  intervened,  when  they  were 
liberated.  Five  versions  of  the  story  are  current,  the  most 
probable  of  all  being  "Walsingham's,  namely,  that  Lignerolles 
was  an  instrument  employed  by  the  Guise  faction  to  prevent 
the  English  marriage.*  He  represents  the  death  "  as  no  small 
furtherance  to  the  cause."  But  why  was  he  murdered  ?  Per- 
haps the  f ollowing  passage  from  a  letter  written  by  the  queen- 
mother  to  the  French  embassador  in  England  may  supply  an 
answer:  "  We  strongly  suspect  Villequier,  Lignerolles,  or  Sar- 


*  ".Linerolles,  who  by  the  house  of  Guise  and  the  rest  of  the  Spanish  fac- 
tion was  made  an  instrument  to  dissuade  his  master  .  .  ."  (8th  December, 
1571 .)  "  Linerolles,  the  chief  dissuader  of  the  marriage."  31st  December. 
1571,  in  Digges.  For  another  account  see  Freer's  Henry  III.  i.  p.  72. 
Sorbin  (Le  vray  Resvcille-lUatin)  says  he  was  killed  at  Bourgueil,  not  at 
Blois. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.        .     343 

ret ;  and  it  is  possible  that  all  three  may  be  the  authors  of  these 
fancies  [Anjou's  refusal  to  marry  Elizabeth] ;  if  I  were  sure  of 
it,  I  give  you  my  word  they  should  repent  it." 

If  this  foul  murder  be  supposed  to  tell  against  the  king,  the 
affair  of  the  Gastine  Cross  should  be  taken  as  a  proof  of  his 
desire  to  conciliate  his  Protestant  subjects.  In  the  Rue  St. 
Denis  at  Paris  there  lived  a  wealthy  tradesman,  Philip  Gastine 
by  name,  who  with  his  son  Richard  was  accused  and  hanged 
for  heresy  and  lending  money  to  the  rebels  ;  another  son  was 
sentenced  to  the  galleys  for  life ;  and  the  third  banished  (30th 
June,  1569).  His  house  was  pulled  down,  and  in  its  place  was 
erected  a  huge  cross,  with  an  inscription  to  the  effect,  that  they 
had  suffered  "  principally  because  they  had  celebrated  the  Lord's 
Supper  in  that  place."  According  to  the  thirty-second  article  * 
of  the  Third  Edict  of  Pacification,  this  cross  was  to  be  destroy- 
ed. The  king  gave  the  necessary  orders,  and  Claude  Marcel, 
provost  of  the  merchants,  fearing  opposition,  began  to  pull  it 
down  one  dark  night  in  December.  He  was  interrupted  by 
the  populace,  who  paraded  the  city  calling  to  arms.  "  The 
common  people,"  said  "Walsingham, "  ease  their  stomachs  only 
by  uttering  certain  seditious  words."  They  went  however  be- 
yond words,  for  there  was  a  fierce  riot,  during  which  the  mob 
burned  two.  houses  and  killed  a  "sermoner."  The  provost 
seems  to  have  been  rather  faint-hearted  in  the  matter,  and  the 
parliament  actually  wrote  to  remonstrate  with  the  king  for 
keeping  his  promise.  Charles,  who  was  then  at  Amboise,  re- 
turned a  very  sharp  answer  (15th December,  1571):  "I  have 
received  your  remonstrance,  which  I  will  always  listen  to  gra- 
ciously so  long  as  you  show  me  due  obedience.  But  seeing 
how  you  have  behaved  since  my  accession,  and  that  you  im- 
agine I  will  suffer  my  orders  to  be  despised,  I  will  let  you  know 
that  there  never  was  a  king  more  determined  to  be  obeyed 
than  I  am."  f  The  captain  of  the  watch  was  sent  to  Amboise 

*  "  Toutes  marques,  vestiges,  et  monumcns  dcs  dites  executions,  etc.  .  .  . 
ordonnons  le  tout  estre  oste  ct  efface^." 
tFelibien,  ii.  p.  1112. 


344  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  explain :  he  found  the  king  very  excited.  "  I  am  thoroughly 
vexed,"  said  Charles,  "  that  the  cross  has  not  been  pulled  down 
or  removed.  I  will  have  no  delay :  it  is  time  it  were  down 
and  over.*  If  you  catch  any  rioter,  hang  him  up  at  once  with 
a  label  of  Seditieux  round  his  neck."  The  parliament  apolo- 
gized, and  said  very  falsely  that  they  had  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  riots.  On  the  night  of  the  19th  December  the  cross 
was  taken  down  and  re-erected  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Inno- 
cents ;  f  but  the  people  were  in  such  a  mutinous  state,  and  it 
was  so  difficult  to  keep  the  peace,  that,  on  the  21st,  the  Duke 
of  Montmorency  hurried  to  Paris  with  a  strong  force  of  sol- 
diers to  put  down  the  rioters.  Some  were  killed,  many  ran 
away,  and  the  mob  was  cowed  at  last  by  the  exemplary  punish- 
ment of  a  coster-monger,  who  was  hanged  from  the  window  of 
a  house  he  had  just  plundered. 

A  report  from  the  Provost  of  the  Trades  to  the  king  shows 
the  condition  of  the  capital  in  the  winter  of  1571:  "After 
curfew,  there  is  much  stabbing  in  the  streets.  A  great  num- 
ber of  dead  bodies  have  been  fished  up  at  St.  Cloud,  or  found 
on  the  river-bank  near  Chaillot.  ...  In  consequence  of  this 
hugonotry,  trade  is  almost  dead,  manufacturers  are  frightened 
away  by  our  divisions,  and  cross  the  mountains  to  settle  in 
Italy.  The  Catholics  want  to  have  an  end  of  it.  ...  Would 
your  majesty  but  reflect;  your  crown  is  endangered,  Paris 
alone  can  save  it."  But  Charles  knew  the  Parisians  well, 
and  desired  to  have  his  crown  upheld  by  trustier  supporters 
than  the  unruly  populace  of  the  capital. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year,  Coligny  paid  another  visit  to 
Blois,  when  the  war  in  Flanders  and  the  marriage  of  the 
Prince  of  Beam  became  once  more  the  chief  subjects  of  de- 
liberation. It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  the  proceedings  day 
by  day.  The  admiral's  arguments  were  very  cogent,  but  the 

*  There  is  a  letter  from  Charles  to  Marshal  Cossd  (6th  November,  1571) : 
"  Jeveux  que  vous  fassiez  oter  la  pyramide,  ct  que  vous  mefassiez  obeir,  car 
le  temps  est  venu  qu'il  le  faut  faire."  Soldan,  ii.  p.  423. 

t  It  stood  here  until  destroyed  in  the  Kevolution. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  345 

most  pressing  matter  was  the  marriage.  On  this  subject  Co- 
ligny  wrote  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  praying  her  not  to  op- 
pose a  union  wherein  the  Reformed  would  have  the  advan- 
tage. "  It  will  be,"  he  said,  "  a  seal  of  friendship  with  the 
king ;  and  the  greatest  mistake  you  can  fall  into  will  be  to 
show  suspicion."  The  king  too  was  very  earnest  in  the  mat- 
ter. "  I  have  made  up  my  mind,"  he  said  to  one  of  Jqan's 
agents, "  to  give  my  sister  to  my  good  brother  Henry ;  for  by 
this  means  I  hope  to  marry  the  two  religions."  "When  it  was 
again  objected  that  the  proposal  could  hardly  be  regarded  as 
sincere,  so  long  as  the  Guises  continued  about  the  court: 
"They  are  my  subjects,"  Charles  replied,  "and  I  will  make 
them  conform  to  my  behests."  Catherine  wrote  to  the  Queen 
of  Navarre :  "  I  pray  you  gratify  the  extreme  desire  we  have 
to  see  you  among  us.  You  will  be  loved  and  honored  as  you 
deserve  to  be."  Biron  was  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  and  Joan 
gave  way  at  last.  In  the  month  of  February  she  started  for 
Blois,  and,  traveling  slowly,  reached  that  city  early  in  March.* 
The  king  gave  her  a  hearty  welcome,  calling  her  "  his  dear 
good  aunt,  his  best  beloved,  his  darling,"  and  so  on,  just  as  he 
had  been  wont  to  do  in  earlier  days.  He  kept  by  her  side, 
and  was  so  demonstrative  in  his  marks  of  affection,  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  gossiping  chronicler, "  every  one  was  astonish- 
ed." In  the  evening,  after  Joan  had  retired,  Charles  turned 
to  Catherine  laughing,  and  said :  "  Now,  mother,  confess  that 
I  play  my  little  part  well." — ""Yes,  you  play  it  well  enough, 
but  you  must  keep  it  up." — "  Trust  me  for  that,"  said  the 
king ;  "  you  shall  see  how  I  will  lead  them  on."f  Many  of 
these  stories  are  nothing  but  idle  street  gossip,  and  some  of 

*  Anquetil,  Peyrat,  and  others  say  May,  but  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  writing 
from  Blois,  3d  March,  1572,  says:  "This  day  the  Queen  of  Navarre  is 
looked  for ;"  and  Walsingham  (29th  March)  reports  an  interview  with  her 
at  Blois.  Charles  writes  to  Fe'nelon  (8th  March)  that  the  Queen  of  Navarre 
arrived  eight  or  nine  days  ago. 

t  L'Estoile  (Journ.  Henri  III.')  and  Sully  both  give  the  same  story,  evi- 
dently from  common  gossip. 


346  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

them,  in  which  we  may  include  the  one  before  us,  were  in- 
vented in  after  years  to  support  the  theory  of  a  long-premed- 
itated plot.  But  the  words,  even  if  accurately  reported,  will 
hardly  bear  such  a  formidable  superstructure :  they  may  refer 
to  the  marriage,  which  was  yet  unsettled,  as  well  as  to  the 
projected  massacre.  Farther,  if  Charles  compassed  the  death 
of  Lignerolles  because  the  wretched  man  was  supposed  to 
have  become  master  of  the  king's  secret,  would  Charles  (with 
his  presumed  craft  and  reticence)  have  spoken  thus  openly 
of  what  he  desired  to  keep  in  utter  obscurity  ?  * 

Never  had  the  little  town  of  Blois  been  more  gay  than  it 
was  in  the  spring  of  1572.  Banquets,  balls,  and  fetes  follow- 
ed each  other  in  rapid  succession,  much  to  the  discomfort  of 
Joan,  whose  principles  and  sober  taste  did '.  not  harmonize 
with  such  gayeties.  The  king,  who  was  delighted  at  the 
share  his  young  queen  took  in  these  amusements,  was  among 
the  liveliest  of  the  court,  and  was  seen  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. 

If  the  marriage  of  Henry  and  Margaret  was  part  of  the 
scheme  by  which  the  Huguenots  were  to  be  lured  to  their  de- 
struction, there  was  very  little  probability  in  March,  1572,  that 
it  would  ever  be  accomplished.  Even  the  mere  rumor  of  it 
had  aroused  all  the  antagonism  of  Spain  and  Rome ;  but  now 
that  it  appeared  certain,  those  powers  tried  every  means  to 
thwart  it.  The  pope  ordered  his  nephew,  then  legate  at  the 
court  of  Portugal,  to  hasten  to  France  and  stop  the  marriage. 
Alessandrino  actually  reached  Blois  before  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, having  rudely  passed  her  on  the  road.  The  particulars 
of  his  interviews  with  Charles  are  given  by  several  contem- 
porary writers,  but  all  are  manifestly  derived  from  the  same 
source.  The  cardinal,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  elo- 
quent men  of  his  day,  pressed  the  king  to  give  Margaret  to 

*  The  whole  tenor  of  Charles's  letter  to  Fe'nelon  (8th  March,  1572)  is  in 
contradiction  to  the  story  given  in  the  text.  He  says  :  "  My  aunt  shows  a 
good  disposition  to  conclude  the  marriage.  .  .  .  There  is  a  very  good  ap- 
pearance of  it." 


MASSACRE  or  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  347 

the  King  of  Portugal,  as  had  been  once  proposed,  and  enter 
into  the  holy  alliance  then  forming  against  the  Turks.  The 
connection  between  these  proposals  is  not  very  clear ;  but  Ales- 
sandrino  probably  hoped  that  the  excitement  of  war,  which 
might  bring  increase  of  territory  to  France,  would  divert 
Charles  from  subjects  nearer  home.  "  It  would  be  ruinous 
to  your  realm  and  to  the  Catholic  Church,"  urged  the  nuncio, 
"to  form  any  alliance  with  the  Huguenots." 

At  the  close  of  one  of  these  interviews,  when  Alessandrino 
had  been  more  than  usually  pressing,  Charles  took  him  by 
the  hand  :  "  What  you  say  is  very  good,  and  I  thank  you  and 
the  pope  for  it.  If  I  had  any  other  means  of  being  revenged 
upon  my  enemies,  I  would  not  go  on  with  this  marriage ;  but 
I  have  not."  When  Alessandrino  heard  of  the  August  mas- 
sacre, he  exclaimed :  "  This,  then,  is  what  the  King  of  France 
was  preparing.  God  be  praised,  he  has  kept  his  promise."  * 
At  the  close  of  the  interview,  Charles  drew  a  valuable  ring 
from  his  finger,  and  pressed  the  nuncio  to  accept  it,  as  a 
pledge  of  his  good  faith  and  obedience  to  the  holy  see.  He 
declined,  saying,  with  a  bitterness  of  manner  that  greatly  dis- 
pleased the  king :  "  The  most  precious  of  your  majesty's  jew- 
els are  but  mud  in  the  eyes  of  the  faithful,  since  your  zeal  for 
the  Catholic  religion  is  so  cold."f  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  who 
was  at  Blois,  wrote  to  Burghley :  "The  foolish  cardinal  went 
away  as  wise  as  he  came :  he  neither  brake  the  marriage  with 
Xavarre,  nor  got  no  dimes,  .  .  .  and  the  foolishest  part  of  all 

*  Lettres  du  Card.  d"0ssat  (fol.  Paris,  1G41),  Lcttrc  185,  p.  42G.  The 
Edinburgh  reviewer  (June,  182G)  pressed  this  very  unfairly  against  Dr.  Lin- 
gard.  The  "enemies"  might  have  been  Spain.  Catena,  who  had  been 
secretary  to  the  cardinal,  speaks  out  more  distinctly,  but  his  report  will  not 
bear  examination :  "  lovoglio  pnnir  questi  malvaggi  e  fclloni,  facendogli 
tagliar  tutti  a  pezzi,  o  non  esser  re,  perdendo  affatto  la  corona."  Vita  del 
Papa  Pio  V.  p.  196  (Roma,  1G47). 

t  Davila,  liv.  v. ;  Capilupi :  Lo  Stratarjcma ;  and  De  Thou  give  this  story, 
but  the  latter  does  not  believe  it.  Ant.  Gabut  (Vita  Pii  V.~)  gives  the  in- 
scription on  the  ring  which  Charles  sent  to  Alessandrino  after  the  death  of 
Pius  V. :  "Non  minus  haec  solida  est  pietas,  ne  solvi."  In  the  Mem.  Etat 
de  France,  the  legate  "s'en  allait  bien  content."  I.  150. 


348  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

.his  going  away,  he  refused  a  diamond  which  the  king  offered 
him  of  600  crowns."  * 

,  There  are  serious  objections  to  this  stpry — especially  to 
Catena's  version  of  it  —  which  is  in  contradiction  to  docu- 
ments above  all  suspicion.  One  of  these  is  a  letter  from 
Charles  to  his  embassador  at  Rome,  with  instructions  about 
the  dispensation.  On  the  31st  July  he  recapitulates  to  De 
Ferrails  the  four  conditions  on  which  the  pope  is  willing  to 
grant  the  said  dispensation,  and  says  that  Henry  will  never 
concede  them.f  He  then  argues  that  the  marriage  will  be 
the  best  means  of  converting  the  prince,  and  hopes  the  pope 
"  will  not  risk  every  thing  by  holding  the  cord  too  tight  in  mat- 
ters which  belong  much  more  to  state  policy  than  to  religious 
scruples."  He  threatens  that  he  will  do  without  a  dispensa- 
tion, if  he  should  be  driven  to  consult  on  the  best  means  of 
tranquilizing  his  kingdom  and  proceeding  to  the  said  mar- 
riage. -  In  a  postscript  the  king  adds,  that  he  has  just  seen 
Salviati,  the  papal  nuncio,  to  whom  he  had  communicated  the 
substance  of  the  dispatch,  and  begged  him  to  write  to  the 
pope  to  the  same  effect.  Did  Salviati  write  as  requested  ? 
He  did,  and  all  his  correspondence  shows  that  up  to  the  very 
day  of  the  massacre  he  was  entirely  ignorant  of  any  treach- 
ery being  contemplated.  On  the  very  day  of  the  massacre 
the  king  gave  instructions  to  Beauville,  who  was  going  to 
Rome,  to  the  effect  that  the  marriage  was  justifiable  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  bind  the  Huguenots  to  the  crown,  and 
he  also  wrote  to  De  Ferrails  on  the  same  date,  that  the  mar- 
riage was  necessary,  and  therefore  it  had  been  solemnized 
without  waiting  for  the  dispensation,  "  to  the  great  satisfac- 
tion of  all  his  subjects."  That  no  allusion  is  made  to  a  plot 
in  these  dispatches  is  proof  9  that  none  such  existed. J  We 
must  not,  therefore,  lay  too  great  stress  upon  Ossatfs  letter, 

*  Digges,  3d  March,  1572,  p.  193. 

t  "  II  cst  du  tout  impossible  de  1'y  disposer  si  chandement."    L.  Paris  ; 
Cab.  flist.  ii.  p.  231. 
t  Soldan  treats  it  as  a  fable,  note  142. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  349 

which,  after  all,  only  repeats  hearsay.*  The  strongest  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  Alessandrino's  story  is  found  in  the  myste- 
rious ending  of  a  letter  in  which  he  alludes  to  matters  that 

O 

had  passed  between  him  and  Charles,  and  that  he  had  reserved 
for  the  pope's  ear  alone.f  The  veil  of  this  mystery — if  there 
really  was  any  mystery — has  never  been  uplifted. 

Joan's  arrival  at  Blois  did  not  accelerate  the  negotiations 
for  the  marriage  so  much  as  had  been  anticipated.  The  queen- 
mother  appeared  of  late  to  have  grown  indifferent,  if  not 
averse,  to  the  proposed  union,  and  every  possible  obstacle  was 
thrown  in  the  way.  Her  inventive  faculties  were  severely 
tested  by  the  good  faith  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre.J  She 
could  have  managed  a  diplomatist  of  her  own  stamp,  but  hon- 
esty was  a  weapon  she  did  not  understand.  "  Certes,"  says 
an  old  writer,  "  her  majesty's  adulterations  of  truth  were  of 
the  most  amazing  extent  and  description."  Joan,  who  heart- 
ily disliked  Catherine,  at  last  refused  to  treat  with  her,  and 
the  negotiations  were  almost  broken  off,  when  it  was  agreed 
to  appoint  three  commissioners  on  each  side,  by  whom  the 
final  arrangements  should  be  made.  Margaret — whose  "  Me- 
moirs "  must  be  read  with  extreme  caution — interested  herself 
but  little  in  the  marriage. 

In  those  days  young  maidens,  whether  of  high  or  low  de- 
gree, had  little  voice  in  the  selection  of  a  husband.  Of  her 
proposed  daughter-in-law,  Joan  writes  thus  to  her  son  on  the 
8th  March  :  "Madame  is  handsome,  graceful,  and  discreet, but 
she  has  been  brought  up  in  the  midst  of  the  most  vicious  and 


*  Mackintosh  :  Hist.  England,  iii.  Appendix  D.  Ranmer,  i.  p.  281.  Aft- 
er a  description  of  the  admiral's  murder  and  the  massacre,  the  king  "  hopes 
that  now  the  holy  father  will  make  no  more  difficulties  about  the  dispensa- 
tion." « 

t  "Con  alcuni  particolari  che  io  porto,  de'  quali  raggnagliero  N.  S™  a 
bocca,  posso  dire  di  non  partirmi  aft'atto  male  expedite. "  Letter  to  Rusti- 
cucci  (6th  March,  1572),  in  letters  del  Sr.  Ch.  Akssandrino,  quoted  by 
Ranke,  Franz.  Gesch.  bk.  iv.  ch.  3. 

J  Her  description  of  Catherine's  facility  of  lying  is  short  and  graphic : 
"  Eile  me  le  renie  comme  beau  meurtre  et  me  rit  au  ncz." 


350  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

corrupt  court  that  can  be  imagined.  Your  cousin  [afterward 
wife  of  Prince  Henry  of  Conde]  is  so  changed  by  it,  that 
there  is  no  appearance  of  religion  in  her  save  thus  far,  that 
she  does  not  go  to  mass;  but  as  to  the  rest  of  her  mode  of 
living,  except  idolatry,  she  does  the  same  as  the  Papists,  and 
my  sister  [the  Princess  of  Conde]  still  worse."  In  a  preg- 
nant phrase  she  describes  the  corrupt  nature  of  court  life : 
"  It  is  not  the  men  here  who  entice  the  women,  but  the  wom- 
en who  entice  the  men."  To  this  Catherine  and  her  "  flying 
squadron"  of  gay  damsels  had  brought  the  court.  The  Queen 
of  Navarre  was  a  rigid  Calvinist,  and  her  opinions  on  court 
amusements  and  pleasures  were  probably  rather  austere.  At 
another  time  she  writes  to  Henry:  "Madam  Margaret  has 
paid  me  every  honor  and  welcome  in  her  power  to  bestow, 
and  frankly  owned  to  me  the  agreeable  ideas  she  has  formed 
of  you.  [They  had  not  seen  each  other  since  the  meeting  at 
Bayonne.]  With  her  beauty  and  wit,  she  excites  great  influ- 
ence over  the  queen-mother  and  the  king."  * 

The  difference  of  religion  was  long  an  almost  insuperable 
obstacle.  Catherine  pretended  scruples  of  conscience  on  be- 
half of  her  daughter ;  and  Joan  of  Navarre,  who  was  really 
anxious  on  the  matter,  hesitated  so  much,  that  up  to  the  29th 
March  the  marriage  continued  doubtful.  "  I  have  now  the 
wolf  by  the  ears,"  said  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  "  for  in  con- 
cluding or  not  concluding  the  marriage,  I  see  danger  every 
way."  "  But,"  adds  the  English  embassador, "  I  do  not  think 
assuredly  that  hardly  any  cause  will  make  them  break — so 
many  necessary  causes  there  are  why  the  same  should  pro- 
ceed." f  The  Huguenot  ministers,  like  unpractical  divines  as 
they  were,  looked  more  coldly  upon  the  projected  union  than 
the  nobility  and  gentry,  who  valued  it  as  a  great  stroke  of 
policy.  There  were  some  even  of  these  who  foreboded  noth- 
ing but  evil.  Rosny,  father  of  the  illustrious  Sully,  refused  to 


*  Baschet,  p.  488. 

t  Walsingham  to  Burghley,  29th  March,  1572;  Diggcs. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  351 

take  any  part  in  the  ceremony,  declaring  that  "  the  wedding- 
favors  would  be  crimson."  His  party  stoutly  advocated  a 
marriage  with  Elizabeth  of  England.  What  would  have  been 
the  fortunes  of  the  two  countries  had  they  been  thus  united  ? 
At  length  ah1  the  negotiations  were  ended,  the  settlements 
drawn  up,  and  the  contract  signed  by  the  plenipotentiaries  on 
each  side  (llth  April,  1572).  A  few  days  later  Charles  ex- 
pressed to  La  Mothe-Fenelon  his  satisfaction  at  the  happy 
conclusion  of  the  tedious  business,  adding  that  "  if  the  queen 
had  been  a  little  more  strengthened  against  those  ailments, 
which  are  usual  to  women  in  her  condition,  the  wedding-day 
would  have  been  already  fixed.  We  shah1  depart  hence 
[Blois  ?]  to  go  toward  Paris  and  Fontainebleau,  where  my  wife 
will  lie  in."  The  only  obstacle  now  was  the  dispensation, 
which  Pius  V.  refused  to  grant :  "  I  would  rather  lose  my 
head  than  grant  a  marriage  dispensation  to  a  heretic."  * 
Charles  determined  to  proceed  in  spite  of  the  pope  :  "  If  he 
tries  it  on  too  far,  I  will  take  Margaret  by  the  hand  and  see 
her  married  in  open  conventicle."  f  His  written  answer  to 
Pius  V.  was  to  the  same  effect,  but  in  more  courtly  strain. 
He  expressed  his  sincere  love  for  the  Catholic  Church,  but 
urged  that  the  country  and  the  exchequer  were  exhausted  by 
civil  war.  As  for  the  marriage  and  the  heresy,  he  continued : 
"Mild  remedies  are  usually  more  efficacious  than  sharp  ones 
in  curing  this  disease,  especially  in  the  minds  of  princes.  I 
am  persuaded  that  Henry  will  not  only  become  all  that  you 
can  wish  him,  but  will  some  day  be  a  great  ornament  and 
help  to  the  Church.  ...  If  he  who  is  now  the  chief  of  the 
wanderers  should  be  brought  back  to  the  true  fold,  how  great 
the  advantage !"  Charles  then  proceeded  to  indulge  in  that 
ambiguous  language  which  has^made  this  period  of  history 
so  difficult  to  understand :  "  I  confess  that  I  am  under  neces- 

*  "  Capitis  sui  jactnrnm  facturura  csse  "  Gabut :  Vita  Pli  V.  in  Acta 
Sancionim  (Mali),  I.  cap.  v.  §  240  (fol.  Antverp.  1580). 

t  Journal  de  L'Esloile,  p.  73.  The  words  are  rather  different  in  the  Re- 
veille-Matin, but  the  sense  is  the  same. 


352  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

sity,  and  have  had  to  put  up  with  many  disagreeable  things ; 
but  I  swear  I  would  rather  imperil  my  kingdom  than  leave 
the  outrages  against  God  unpunished.  But  what  my  designs 
are  can  not  yet  be  told."*  To  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  then 
in  Rome,  he  wrote  that  whether  the  pope's  answer  was  favor- 
able or  not,  he  should  go  on  with  the  marriage.f  To  his 
friends  he  repeated  his  assurance  that  he  married  his  sister 
not  only  to  the  Prince  of  Beam  but  to  the  whole  Protestant 
party :  "  It  will  be  the  strongest  bond  between  my  subjects," 
he  said,  "  and  a  sure  evidence  of  my  good-will  toward  those 
of  the  religion."  It  was  Joan's  desire  that  the  wedding 
should  be  celebrated  at  Blois,  on  account  of  the  fanatical  tem- 
per of  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis ;  but  as  Charles  ob- 
jected with  reason  to  a  solemn  state  ceremony  being  perform- 
ed anywhere  but  in  the  capital,  the  Queen  of  Navarre  gave 
way.  It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  Parisians  should 
have  been  equally  adverse  to  the  celebration  of  the  marriage 
within  their  walls.  "  They  feared,"  says  Claude  Haton, "  that 
they  would  be  robbed  and  despoiled  in  their  own  houses  by 
the  seditious  Huguenots."  \ 

*  Grabut,  Vita  PH  V.  cap.  v.  §  244.     If  Charles  was  not  misleading  the 
pope,  these  "  designs"  may  have  been  the  Flemish  war. 
t  Bouille' :  Hist.  Guise,  ii.  492. 
J  Claude  Haton  :  Mem.  ii.  p.  663. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  353 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE  MARKIAGE  AISTD  THE  PLOT. 

[August,  1572.] 

Proposed  German  and  English  Alliances — Anjou's  Refusal — Treaty  with 
England — Capture  of  Mons — Defeat  of  Genlis — Walsingham's  Dispatches 
— War-Excitement — Deliberations  in  Council — Charles  at  Montpipeau — 
Catherine  follows  him — Her  tears — Increasing  influence  of  Coligny — His 
Death  resolved  on — Joan  of  Navarre  in  Paris — Her  sudden  Death — Dis- 
trust and  Warnings — Coligny's  firmness — Plot  and  Counterplot — Henry 
of  Navarre  enters  Paris — The  Wedding — Masque  at  the  Hotel  Bonrbon — 
The  Admiral's  last  Letter — Plot  to  Assassinate  him — The  Duchess  of 
Nemours — Maurevel  sent  for. 

THE  Treaty  of  St.  Germains  was  a  serious  blow  to  Span- 
ish influence  in  France.  We  have  seen  that  peace  had  not 
only  been  concluded  in  opposition  to  the  remonstrances  of 
Philip  II.,  but  that  monarch  had  experienced  several  slights 
from  his  brother-in-law  which  even  so  cold-blooded  a  man 
must  have  felt  deeply.  In  proportion,  too,  as  the  loyalty  and 
worth  of  Coligny  became  known,  the  distance  between  the  two 
courts  grew  wider.  The  "  Politicians  "  took  advantage  of  this 
change,  and  becoming  daily  more  convinced  of  the  necessity 
of  war  with  Spain,  tried  to  strengthen  France  by  foreign  alli- 
ances. Their  choice  was  not  very  great.  Rome  would  never 
aid  a  power  that  went  to  war  with  Spain  to  support  heresy 
in  Flanders.  The  Emperor  of  Germany  would  remain  neu- 
tral, for  by  reserving  his  forces  he  would  be  able  to  interfere 
effectually  between  the  combatants,  when  exhausted  or  tired 
of  war.  The  Catholic  States  of  Northern  Italy  would  take 
part  with  Spain  and  threaten  France  on  the  Alpine  frontier ; 
and  Switzerland  would  sell  her  sword  to  either  party.  There 
only  remained  England  and  the  Protestant  States  of  Germany, 

Z 


354  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

with  whose  help  France  might  safely  venture  to  attack  the 
power  of  Spain.  That  monarchy  was  held  to  be  the  greatest 
in  the  world :  it  was  not  indeed  so  great  as  it  appeared  to 
be,  for  it  was  rapidly  declining,  but  the  halo  of  its  former  glo- 
ry still  shone  round  it. 

The  negotiations  with  Germany  were  so  mismanaged  that 
they  came  to  nothing.  Those  with  England  had  assumed,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  form  of  proposals  for  a  matrimonial  alliance 
between  Elizabeth  and  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  Catherine,  who 
believed  in  an  old  prophecy  that  all  her  sons  should  be  kings, 
was  very  earnest  in  the  matter.*  The  Huguenots,  who  are 
wrongly  supposed  to  have  originated  the  plan,  also  felt  anx- 
ious, and  the  correspondence  of  the  English  agents  at  the  court 
of  France  is  full  of  their  hopes  and  fears.  They  saw  that 
such  a  union  of  the  two  crowns  would  strengthen  them,  and 
help  to  preserve  the  fruits  of  their  past  struggles ;  while  they 
dreaded  a  failure,  which  would  discredit  the  Moderate  party 
and  bring  back  the  Guises,  and  perhaps  plunge  them  again 
into  all  the  miseries  of  civil  strife  from  which  they  had  so 
recently  escaped.  The  negotiations  extended  over  many 
months.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Elizabeth  was  at  any  time 
sincere ;  but  it  is  certain  that  as  one  objection  after  another 
was  removed,  and  as  she  appeared  to  be  more  inclined  to  the 
match,  Anjou  grew  cooler,  professed  a  great  horror  of  heresy, 
and  urged  that  his  conscience  would  not  allow  him  to  share  the 
crown  of  the  Queen  of  England.  Still,  as  he  did  not  absolutely 
refuse  the  match,  the  English  ministers  were  frightened  lest 
Elizabeth  should  anticipate  him,  and  ruin  every  thing  by  de- 
claring her  preference  for  a  celibate  life.  A  refusal  from  her 
would  ruin  the  Huguenot  hopes.  Elizabeth  would  probably 
have  spoken  out,  had  not  the  various  intrigues  of  which  Mary 
Stuart  was  the  prime  mover  kept  her  silent  and  cautious.  She 

*  This  is  clear  from  her  despairing  language  to  Fe'nelon  :  "  Vous  etcs 
sur  le  point  de  perdre  un  tel  roynume  et  grandeur  pour  mes  enfans  .  .  . 
nous  pourrions  avoir  ce  roynume  entre  les  mains  d'un  de  nos  enfans." 
2J  February,  1571,  Corresp.  diplom.  Paris,  1840-41,  cd.  by  Teulet. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  355 

would  dally  with  France  so  long  as  there  was  any  danger  from 
Spain.  But  Anjou,  who  was  never  in  want  of  evil  advisers, 
listened  to  the  seductions  of  the  Spanish  court,  and,  allured  by 
a  large  bribe  from  the  pope,*  refused — tAvice  refused — to  wed 
a  mature  maiden  of  thirty-eight.  The  queen-mother  was  con- 
founded, and  with  reason ;  for  the  suspicions  of  Spain  had  been 
aroused,  and  France  unaided  could  not  hope,  in  its  state  of  ex- 
haustion, to  withstand  a  well-directed  attack.  There  was  dan- 
ger, too,  on  the  other  side,  for  Elizabeth  was  touchy  and  sus- 
ceptible ;  and  though  she  might  have  been  insincere  through- 
out, her  feminine  vanity  might  be  so  wounded  that  she  would 
not  hesitate  to  avenge  it  by  taking  part  with  Spain.  The 
Moderate  party  were  in  despair ;  but  fortunately  the  negotia- 
tions were  in  the  hands  of  prudent  men.  Walsingham  in 
France  and  La  Mothe-Fenelon  in  England  felt  all  the  impor- 
tance of  the  crisis,  and  after  some  difficulty  succeeded  in  arrang- 
ing a  defensive  treaty  between  the  two  countries  (29th  March, 
1572).  Though  manifestly  directed  against  Spain,  it  was  ex- 
pressed in  general  terms,  so  as  not  to  wound  the  susceptibili- 
ties of  the  French  Catholics.f  Each  promised  to  aid  the 
other  with  6000  infantry  and  six  ships  of  war.  The  English 
statesmen  were  perhaps  more  anxious  about  this  treaty  than 
their  French  colleagues  ;  for  Mary  Stuart,  now  a  prisoner  in 
England,  was  actively  engaged  in  a  complication  of  intrigues 
with  Spain,J  the  success  of  any  of  which  would  have  endan- 
gered the  cause  of  Protestantism.  Montmorency,  "  a  lover  of 

*  The  nuncio  promised  him  100,000  crowns.  Walsingham  to  Cecil,  8th 
February,  1572,  in  Wright's  Elizabeth,  p.  386.  See  also  letter  of  17th  Feb- 
ruary, m  Digges,  p.  43. 

t  Charles,  writing  to  Fenelon  (19th  Jan.  1572),  mentions  a  discussion 
about  inserting  the  words  lt  of  attacks  under  pretext  of  religion,"  and  what 
Walsingham  had  said  on  the  matter  about  a  general  Protestant  Confedera- 
tion. See  Digges,  pp.  1G9-17:5 

J  There  is  abundant  evidence  in  the  Fenelon  correspondence.  On  the 
20th  March,  1572,  Charles  writes  that  Queen  Mary  "had  exhorted  the 
Duke  of  Alva  to  hasten  to  send  ships  to  Scotland  to  seize  her  son,"  and 
that  "  she  would  commit  herself  to  the  King  of  Spain."  He  bids  Fe'nelon 
tell  her  to  write  no  more  such  ciphers,  and  "  de  se  de'partir  de  telles  pratiques 


356  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

England  as  much  as  any  man  in  France,"  was  sent  over  to  re- 
ceive the  ratification,  and — if  he  saw  fit  opportunity — to  make 
a  formal  proposal  of  the  Duke  of  Alenyon  to  Queen  Elizabeth.* 
The  marshal — or  rather  the  Moderate  party  of  which  he  was 
leader — felt  convinced  that  some  foreign  support  was  more 
necessary  than  ever  to  keep  the  Catholic  reactionists  in  check, 
and  to  neutralize  the  efforts  of  Spain  to  rekindle  the  civil  wars 
now  so  happily  ended.  Spain  was  uneasy  and  wavering.  St. 
Goar  writes  from  Madrid  (22d  June,  1572) :  "I  believe  that 
Philip  would  fain  avoid  a  rupture;"  and  again  (1st  July): 
"  The  king  assures  me  he  would  willingly  preserve  peace,  but 
that  he  has  great  cause  to  fear  an  attack  from  France." 
Charles  also  told  St.  Goar,  in  a  letter  dated  25th  June,  that 
"  if  he  were  only  sure  they  would  undertake  nothing  against 
him,  he  would  not  mix  himself  up  with  foreign  transac- 
tions.'^ 

As  soon  as  the  important  matters  of  the  Navarre  marriage 
and  the  English  treaty  were  concluded,  Charles  left  Touraine 
(May  5th),  and  proceeded  by  way  of  Fontainebleau  to  Paris, 
and  thence  to  St.  Maur.  The  admiral  attended  him  more  as 
a  friend  than  as  one  of  the  great  officers  of  state.  The 
Guises  had  left  the  court  almost  in  despair.  If  any  credit 
can  be  given  to  an  intercepted  dispatch  of  the  28th  January 
from  the  Countess  of  Northumberland,  the  duke  had  paid  a 
long  secret  visit  to  Alva.J  This  was  denied  by  Catherine, 
but  may  have  been  true,  nevertheless.  Although  this  visit 
may  have  had  more  to  do  with  the  affairs  of  Mary  Stuart,  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  state  of  France  and  the  Anjou  marriage 

ct  mene'es."  Walsingham's  correspondence  shows  that  Spain,  Guise,  the 
pope,  and  others  were  conspiring  to  prevent  Elizabeth  from  helping  Flan- 
ders by  an  invasion  of  Ireland,  "  to  which  the  king  was  not  privy."  Digges, 
p.  30  (Letter  of  8th  February),  .p.  38. 

*  Charles  to  Fenelon,  20th  March,  1572 :  "  We  are  in  great  hope  of  the 
marriage  (of  Alen9on).  .  .  .  If  it  be  accomplished,  I  shall  not  be  ungrate- 
ful." 

t  Raumer,  i.  19G. 

$  Simancas  Archives.     Paris :  Cab  Hist.  iii.  C7. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  357 

were  not  forgotten.  It  is  not  clear  when  the  Guises  fell  into 
disgrace,  but  their  position  at  court  in  the  spring  of  1572  is  ac- 
curately discussed  in  a  letter  from  Alva  to  Philip  II.,  who  had 
written  advising  him  to  keep  up  friendly  relations  with  the 
duke  and  the  cardinal.  The  general  replied  that  he  had 
always  seen  the  importance  of  doing  so  :  "  But  at  this  time 
there  are  two  things  to  be  considered,  namely,  that  none  of 
the  family  have  any  share  in  the  management  of  public  busi- 
ness, except  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine ;  and  he,  when  in  favor, 
is  insolent  and  forgets  every  body,  and  when  in  disgrace,  is 
good  for  nothing."  Then,  as  if  to  brand  the  treason  of  the 
churchman,  and  show  the  unfriendly  nature  of  the  relations 
between  the  courts  of  Paris  and  Madrid,  Alva  continues : 
"  He  has  warned  me,  through  Fray  Garcia  de  Ribeira,  to  be 
on  my  guard,  as  he  foresees  trouble  in  France,  and  believes 
that  the  fleet  assembling  at  Rochelle  is  intended  to  operate 
against  the  Low  Countries."  *  "When  the  Duke  of  Guise 
and  Coligny  were  at  Paris  in  May,  the  former  was  forbidden 
to  undertake  any  thing  against  the  Chatillons,  to  which  he  re- 
plied, that  if  the  admiral  had  any  thing  to  complain  of,  he 
was  ready  to  meet  him  at  any  time  in  single  combat,  f  The 
king,  finding  the  duke  (whom  he  called  "  un  mauvais  gar9on  ") 
so  implacable,  required  of  him  a  complete  and  formal  denial 
of  every  project  of  outrage  against  Coligny,  which  he  gave, 
though  with  reluctance  (12th  May,  15*72).  There  is  another 
story  that  the  king  did  not  press  Duke  Henry  to  be  recon- 
ciled, having  already  had  proof  of  his  impracticable  charac- 
ter ;  but  to  Aumale,  his  brother,  who  seemed  more  tracta- 
ole,  he  said :  "  Have  a  little  patience,  and  you  will  soon  see 
a  pretty  game."J  Were  the  story  true,  it  would  not  nec- 
essarily imply  the  existence  of  a  plot  to  get  rid  of  the 
Huguenots. 
The  deliberations  about  the  Flemish  war  now  became  more 

*  Gachard:  Bull.  Acad.  Brux.  xvi.  1849  (pte.  I), 
f  Simancns  Archives.     Paris :  Cab.  Hist.  iii.  67. 
J  "  Quclque  bon  jeu."    Bouille. 


358  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

frequent  than  ever.  The  time  was  opportune  for  the  projected 
invasion.  In  Flanders  the  first  part  of  the  year  had  been  dis- 
tinguished by  a  series  of  triumphs.  "  With  one  fierce  bound 
of  enthusiasm,"  says  the  eloquent  historian  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
public, "  the  nation  shook  off  its  chain."  Alva  was  ill,  and 
anxiously  awaiting  his  successor.  The  hour  was  approaching 
when  Charles  IX.  would  feel  it  safe  as  well  as  politic  to 
throw  off  all  disguise.  "  When  you  have  captured  twoiof 
the  frontier  cities,  the  king  will  once  more  take  council  about 
the  war,"  said  Tavannes  to  Count  Louis  ;  and  before  the  end 
of  May,  Mons  and  Valenciennes  were  in  his  hands.  With  the 
connivance  of  the  government,  Louis  had  got  together  a  number 
of  Huguenot  gentlemen,  including  Genlis  and  La  Noue,  be- 
sides some  1500  soldiers,  and  with  these  he  surprised  Mons. 
He  was  soon  after  strongly  reinforced  by  nearly  5000  French 
troops.  Alva  had  no  doubt  whence  the  blow  came,  and 
threatening  to  repay  Catherine  in  her  own  coin,  immediately 
prepared  to  recover  the  town.  Unless  he  were  reinforced, 
Count  Louis  had  no  hope  of  resisting  with  success,  and  ac- 
cordingly Genlis  was  dispatched  to  France  to  procure  more 
troops.  The  admiral  strongly  advised  Charles  to  back  up 
the  count  with  a  large  force  ;  but  the  king  was  still  unwilling 
to  declare  himself  openly,  though  he  had  committed  himself  al- 
most beyond  recall.  "  You  would  be  astounded,"  writes  Albor- 
nez  to  Secretary  Cayas, "  could  you  see  a  letter  in  my  hands 
written  by  the  King  of  France  to  Prince  Louis."  It  was 
dated  the  27th  April,  1572,  and  in  it  Charles  expressed  his 
determination  to  do  ah1  in  his  power  "  to  extricate  the  Low 
Countries  from  the  oppression  under  which  they  groaned."  * 

In  this  juncture  the  Huguenot  champion,  who  was  "  daily 
at  court  and  very  well  used  by  the  king  and  his  brothers,"f 
laid  before  his  royal  master  a  memoir  drawn  up  by  the  cele- 
brated Duplessis-Mornay,  in  which  he  argued  that  a  foreign 


*  Gacharcl :  Corresp.  de  Philippe  IT.     4to.  Bruxelles,  1848,  t.  ii.  p.  269. 
t  Ellis's  Letters,  p.  10 ;  sec  also  pp.  16  and  18. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  359 

war  was  necessary  to  preserve  internal  peace.  "  The  French- 
man," he  says,  "  who  has  once  had  a  taste  of  war  will  often, 
from  rneYe'gaiete  de  coeur,  or  from  want  of  some  other  enemy, 
fight  his  own  countryman  and  friend.  The  Spaniard,"  he 
continued,  "is  weak  from  the  dispersion  of  his  forces,  and 
you  have  England  on  your  side,  who  formerly  used  to  take 
part  in  every  quarrel  against  us.  You  will  acquire  a  province 
superior  to  any  in  France  by  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  the  beau- 
ty of  its  cities,  and  the  wealth  of  its  inhabitants.  The  Ger- 
mans will  fear  you,  your  own  people  will  be  enriched  by  com- 
merce, and  you,  Sire,  will  reap  immortal  honor  from  the  con- 
quest." *  The  motives  are  not  very  noble,  but  they  were  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  Charles's  temper :  a  higher  morality  would 
have  fallen  dead  upon  his  ear.  Still  he  hesitated  to  declare 
himself,  leaning  toward  Coligny  at  one  moment,  and  toward 
the  Catholic  party  at  the  next.  Meanwhile  Genlis  had  suc- 
ceeded in  collecting  a  number  of  volunteers,  and  was  making 
his  way  toward  Mons,  with  about  4000  men,f  when  he  was 
met  and  defeated  by  a  Spanish  force  under  Don  Frederick  of 
Toledo  (19th  July,  1572).  Twelve  hundred  of  .the  French 
were  left  upon  the  field,  and  a  much  larger  number  were 
butchered  by  the  peasantry  as  they  were  seeking  to  escape. 
Tavannes,  a  trustworthy  authority  on  such  a  point,  says  that 
Don  Frederick  had  been  treacherously  informed  of  the  road 
Genlis  would  take  with  his  troops. 

The  news  of  this  terrible  overthrow  caused  an  extraor- 
dinary agitation  at  court.  Some  fancied  in  their  panic  that 
the  Spaniard  was  already  at  the  gates  of  Paris ;  while  the 
outspoken  admiral  declared  that  the  catastrophe  lay  at  the 
doors  of  those  who  had  dissuaded  the  king  from  declaring 
himself.  The  government  everywhere  ostentatiously  protest- 
ed— at  Rome,  Vienna,  Brussels,  and  Madrid — that  they  de- 
sired peace,  and  were  not  privy  to  the  attack  on  Mons  or  the 

*  Mem.  de  Duplessis-Momay,  Paris,  1824. 

t  Walsingham  to  Burghley,  18th  July,  1572.  Grotius,  Ann.  p.  37,  says 
5000  foot  and  500  horse. 


360  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

advance  of  Genlis ;  indeed  Mondoucet  congratulated  Alva  on 
his  success  over  the  invaders,  while  St.  Goar  assured  Philip 
that  his  master  saw  with  regret  his  vassals  joining  the  rebels 
in  the  Low  Countries.  Neither  Alva  nor  Philip  believed  this, 
but  were  determined  to  give  no  cause  for  a  rupture  of  friend- 
ly relations.*  And  hence  it  was  that  when  the  Spanish  army 
captured  some  sixty  Frenchmen  who  tried  to  enter  Mons, 
Alva  only  hanged  a  part,  taking  the  others  to  Ruppelmonde 
to  be  drowned  secretly  in  the  river. 

Walsingham's  correspondence  reflects  minutely  the  state 
of  feeling  among  the  Huguenots  at  this  moment.  "  Such  of 
the  religion  as  before  slept  in  security,"  he  writes  to  Burgh- 
'ley  on  the  26th  July,  "begin  now  to  awake  and  to  see  their 
danger,  and  do  therefore  conclude,  that  unless  this  enterprise 
in  the  Low  Countries  have  good  success,  their  cause  groweth 
desperate.  They  have  therefore  of  late  sent  to  the  king,  who 
is  absent  from  home,  to  show  him  that  if  the  Prince  of  Or- 
ange quail,  it  shall  not  lie  in  him  [Charles]  to  maintain  him 
in  his  protection  by  virtue  of  his  edict ;  they  desire  him,  there- 
fore, out  of  hand,  to  resolve  upon  something  that  may  be  of 
assistance,  offering  themselves  to  employ  therein  their  lives, 
lands,  and  goods."  "Writing  the  same  day  to  the  Earl  of  Lei- 
cester, the  embassador  says:  "Those  of  the  religion  have 
made  demonstration  to  the  king  that  his  [Orange's]  enter- 
prise lacking  good  success,  it  shall  not  then  lie  in  his  power 
to  maintain  his  edict ;"  apparently  meaning,  that  if  the  Flem- 
ish rebels  were  subdued,  Spain  would  again  be  so  formidable 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  tolerate  the  Huguenots  in  defi- 
ance of  Philip  II.  Walsingham  then  adds  that  the  Reformed 
party  "  desire  him  to  weigh  well,  whether  it  were  better  to 
have  foreign  war  with  advantage,  or  inward  war  to  the  ruin 
of  himself  and  his  estate."  This  was  one  of  those  unfortu- 
nate passages  which  Catherine  afterward  employed  with  so 
much  effect  to  terrify  Charles  into  the  August  massacre. 

*  Alvn's  letters  of  13th  and  21st  June,  and  18th  July. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  361 

The  meaning  of  the  words  is  plain  enough,  but  an  unscrupu- 
lous advocate  would  easily  convert  them  into  a  threat  of  re- 
bellion against  the  king's  authority. 

As  soon  as  the  French  had  recovered  from  the  first  shock 
caused  by  the  news  of  Genlis's  defeat,  they  began  to  vapor 
and  talk  of  revenge ;  and  their  hostile  feelings  were  still  far- 
ther exasperated  by  the  report  of  certain  contemptuous  ex- 
pressions ascribed  to  Alva.  Every  thing  betokened  an  ap- 
proaching rupture  between  France  and  Spain,  and  ere  long 
the  rumors  of  war  became  so  loud  that  the  Venetian  Senate 
hastily  dispatched  an  embassador  with  authority  to  mediate 
between  the  angry  governments.*  Michieli  writes  in  July 
to  his  superiors  of  volunteer  expeditions  of  horse  and  foot 
setting  off  daily :  "  For  four  or  five  days  war  was  regarded  in 
Paris  as  declared ;  it  was  openly  talked  of ."f 

On  the  23d  July,  Petrucci,  the  Tuscan  embassador,  writes 
to  his  ducal  master,  that  the  royal  council  have  been  in  deliber- 
ation about  the  ransom  of  the  prisoners,  but  "  does  not  know 
how  the  king  [Charles]  can  grant  this,  without  giving  the 
greatest  suspicion  to  the  Catholic  king;  and  yet  he  shows 
great  interest  in  the  matter."J 

Elizabeth  had  done  her  part  in  the  anti-Spanish  movement  by 
sending  troops  to  Flushing.  Sir  T.  Smith  wrote  to  inform 
Walsingham  that  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  had  been  "  sent  over 
with  his  band  of  Englishmen  and  some  Frenchmen,  who 
have  taken  Sluys  and  besieged  the  castle."  § 

Just  at  this  juncture  the  queen-mother  happened  to  be  in 
Lorraine  tending  her  sick  daughter,  and  the  news  of  the  mar- 
tial outburst  brought  her  back  in  haste  to  Paris.  She  was 

*  The  Grand  Seignor  heard  of  the  proposed  Flemish  war,  and  offered  to 
help  Charles  with  two  galleys  and  some  troops.  Sully  :  Mtm.  i.  p.  15  (Engl. 
ed.). 

t  Baschet,  p.  540  :  "  La  guerra  per  quattro  o  sei  di  continui  fa  tenuta  de- 
liberata."  Tommaseo:  Relations  Venitiennes,  ii.  p.  171. 

J  "Tuttavia  ne  far  ogni  mapgiore  istanza."  See  also  his  letters  dated 
20th  and  23d  August.  Alberi :  Vita  di  Calerina  de  Medici,  4to.  Florence, 
1838.  §  Digges,  p.  231. 


362  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

too  wise  to  oppose  her  son's  warlike  humor  openly,  but  she  so 
far  shook  his  resolution  as  to  have  the  whole  subject  brought 
before  the  council.  She  was  adverse  to  the  Avar  on  many 
grounds,  but  principally  because  she  felt  assured  that  if  Coligny 
carried  on  a  successful  campaign,  his  influence  with  the  king 
would  quite  supersede  her  own.  She  did  not  know  how  far 
the  king  and  the  admiral  had  gone  already.  The  latter,  who 
was  always  with  Charles,  even  to  a  late  hour,  wrote  on  the 
llth  August  to  Prince  William  of  Orange,  that  there  could 
be  no  doubt  as  to  the  king's  earnestness  (Walsingham  says: 
"But  for  the  king,  all  had  quailed  long  before"),  and  that  he 
hoped  in  a  few  days  to  come  to  his  help  writh  1 2,000  arquebus- 
iers  and  3000  cavalry.  Yet  only  one  day  before  this,  Wal- 
singham wrote  home :  "  Commonly  it  is  given  out  that  the 
king  will  no  more  meddle,  .  .  .  yet  I  am  assured  that  under- 
hand he  is  content  there  shall  [be]  somewhat  done,  for  that 
he  seeth  the  peril  that  will  befall  unto  him,  if  the  Prince  of 
Orange  quail."  The  English  embassador's  means  of  informa- 
tion were  so  complete,  that  he  actually  knew  more  of  what 
was  going  on  in  the  cabinet  than  the  admiral  did. 

The  extreme  Catholic  party  had  rallied  and  were  trying 
every  thing  in  their  power  to  destroy  the  Huguenot  ascendan- 
cy at  court,  and  Charles's  resolution  fluctuated  from  day  to 
day.  That  he  might  enjoy  a  little  quiet,  he  suddenly  started 
for  Montpipeau,  a  pleasant  hunting-lodge,  intending  to  remain 
there  until  the  eve  of  his  sister's  marriage.  Meanwhile  bad 
news  reached  the  French  court;  Catherine  discovered  that 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  playing  her  false,  and  while  pretending 
zeal  for  an  alliance  against  Spain,  was  actually  treating  with 
that  power.  De  Foix  and  Fenelon  both  wrote  from  private 
information  that  she  had  been  advised  to  recall  her  troops 
from  Flanders  and  not  quarrel  with  Spain.  "  Whereupon," 
writes  Walsingham,  on  the  10th  August, "the  queen-mother 
fell  into  such  fear  that  the  enterprise  must  necessarily  fail 
without  the  aid  of  England."  *  The  report  was  untrue,  and 
*  Letter  to  Burghlcy.  Digges,  pp.  231-234. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  363 

was  probably  a  mere  invention  of  some  of  the  traitors  in  the 
English  council.*  But  it  frightened  Catherine,  and  she  deter- 
mined to  make  one  more  attempt  to  recover  her  ascendancy 
over  the  king.  She  hurried  to  Montpipeau  with  such  impetu- 
ous haste  that  two  of  her  horses  fell  dead  on  the  road.  With 
tears  in  her  eyes,  she  accused  Charles  of  ingratitude  to  a  moth- 
er "  who  had  sacrificed  herself  for  his  welfare  and  incurred 
every  risk  for  his  advantage."  "  You  hide  yourself  from  me," 
she  continued,  "  and  take  counsel  with  my  enemies.  You  are 
about  to  plunge  your  kingdom  into  a  war  with  Spam,  and  yet 
England,  in  whose  alliance  you  trusted,  is  false  to  you.  Alone 
you  can  not  resist  so  powerful  an  enemy.  You  will  only  make 
France  a  prey  to  the  Huguenots,  who  desire  the  subversion  of 
the  kingdom  for  their  own  benefit.  If  you  will  no  longer  be 
guided  by  my  advice,  suffer  me  to  return  to  my  native  coun- 
try, that  I  may  not  witness  such  disgrace."  "  This  artful  ha- 
rangue," says  Tavannes,  "  frightened  the  king,  who,  wonder- 
ing to  see  his  secret  counsels-  revealed,  confessed  them  all,  beg- 
ged his  mother's  pardon,  and  promised  obedience."  Tavan- 
nes, whose  authority  for  circumstances  of  which  he  was  not 
an  eye-witness  is  rather  doubtful,  alludes  to  the  common  ru- 
mor that  M.  de  Sauve,  the  king's  secretary,  had  revealed  these 
"  secret  counsels  "  to  his  wife,  Charlotte  de  Beaune,  by  whom 
they  were  told  to  her  lover  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  who,  in  his 
turn,  communicated  them  to  his  mother.  Whatever  secrets 
may  have  been  divulged,  certainly  this  of  the  projected  Flem- 
ish war  was  not  one ;  for  if  it  was  unknown  to  Catherine,  she 
must  have  been  the  only  person  in  the  court  ignorant  of  it.f 
She  was  undoubtedly  alarmed  at  the  apparently  isolated  posi- 
tion of  France ;  and  we  shall  see  that,  finding  all  other  methods 
fail  of  averting  war,  she  did  not  shrink  from  murder.  No 
doubt  her  "  affetto  di  signorreggiare  "  had  much  to  do  with 
her  bloody  resolution ;  but  she  may  also  have  believed  Coligny 

*  Sir  Thomas  Smith  writes  22cl  Angust :   "There   is  no  revocation  (re- 
call of  troops)  done  nor  meant.''     Digges,  p.  237. 
t  The  Memoirs  of  Tnvannes  put  this  beyond  a  doubt. 


364  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  be  a  dangerous  adviser,  and  in  an  unscrupulous  age  there 
was  little  difficulty  in  getting  rid  of  such  a  man. 

The  exact  date  of  the  interview  at  Montpipeau  is  not  known, 
but  it  probably  took  place  during  the  first  week  in  August,  for 
Walsingham  evidently  refers  to  it  in  his  letter  of  the  1  Oth  of 
that  month  :  "  Touching  Flanders  matters,  such  of  the  council 
here  as  incline  to  Spain  have  put  the  queen-mother  in  such  a 
fear,  that  she  with  tears  had  dissuaded  the  king  for  the  time, 
who  otherwise  was  very  resolute.  .  .  .  The  admiral  in  this 
brunt,  whose  mind  is  invincible  and  foreseeth  what  is  like  to 
ensue,  doth  not  now  give  over,  but  layeth  before  the  king  his 
peril  if  the  Prince  of  Orange  quail."  And  again:  "  The  king 
is  grown  cold,  who  before  was  very  forward,  and  nothing 
prevailed  so  much  as  the  tears  of  his  mother.  .  .  .  How 
perplexed  the  admiral  is,  who  foreseeth  the  mischief  that  is 
likely  to  follow,  your  lordship  [Leicester]  may  easily  guess. 
He  never  showed  greater  magnanimity,  nor  never  was  better 
followed  nor  more  honored  of  those  of  the  religion,  than  he  now 
is,  which  doth  not  a  little  appall  the  enemies.  He  layeth  be- 
fore the  king  and  council  the  peril  and  danger  of  his  estate ; 
and  though  he  can  not  obtain  what  he  would,  yet  doth  he  ob- 
tain something  from  him."  *  This  was  the  admiral's  death- 
warrant.  Charles  listened  to  him  rather  than  to  his  mother. 
"  What  do  you  learn  in  your  long  conversations  with  the  admi- 
ral?" asked  Catherine  one  day.  "  I  learn,"  he  replied,  "  that  I 
have  no  greater  enemy  than  my  mother."  She  saw  her  power 
slipping  from  her,  and  her  son  Anjou,  her  beloved,  her  favorite 
son,  in  danger ;  for  she  knew  how  violent  Charles  could  be  when 
he  was  once  aroused.  And  all  depended  upon  the  life  of  one 
man !  And  when  in  those  days  did  any  body,  especially  an 
Italian  man  or  woman,  allow  a  single  life  to  stand  between  them 
and  their  desire  ?  Coligny  must  be  got  rid  of ;  then  the  queen- 
mother  would  recover  her  influence ;  then  there  would  be  an  end 
of  this  perplexing  Flemish  business ;  and  with  Henry  of  Na- 

*  Digges,  p.  234. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  365 

varre,  the  head  of  the  Huguenot  party,  married  to  her  daugh- 
ter, there  would  be  no  cause  to  fear  a  revival  of  internal  dis- 
turbances. 

But  these  political  negotiations  and  discussions  were  not 
permitted  to  delay  the  preparations  for  the  marriage  that  was 
to  unite  Catholics  and  Reformers  into  one  homogeneous  people. 

On  the  6th  of  May  Joan  left  Blois,  and  arrived  in  Paris 
eight  or  nine  days  after,  such  being  the  rate  at  which  royalty 
traveled  a  distance  that  now  does  not  require  as  many  hours. 
She  took  up  her  abode  in  a  house  belonging  to  Jean  Guillart, 
Bishop  of  Chartres,  one  of  the  prelates  who  had  been  excom- 
municated in  1563  for  his  liberal  opinions.  The  removal  to 
Paris  was  fatal  to  her :  within  a  month  she  sickened  and  died 
(9th  June,  1572),*  not  without  suspicion  of  poison  administered 
by  means  of  a  pair  of  gloves  sent  to  her  by  Rene,  the  queen- 
mother's  perfumer.  There  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for  the 
suspicion :  the  season  was  unhealthy.  "  People  are  dying  here 
very  fast,"  wrote  the  dowager  Princess  of  Conde,  "  for  which 
reason  I  do  not  send  for  my  children."  f  What  wonder,  then, 
that  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  who  was  ill  at  ease,  should  pine  and 
sicken  in  the  hot  ill-cleansed  streets  of  Paris.J  De  Thou  says 
she  died  of  an  abscess  brought  on  by  excessive  fatigue.  Al- 
though suffering  acutely,  she  bore  the  pain  without  a  word  of 
impatience  or  complaint.  When  she  saw  her  women  weeping 

*  Favyn  says  10th  June  ;  an  inscription  in  the  Etat  de  France  gives  Idus 
,7i/nu(]3tli). 

t  Letter  to  Mdlle.  dc  Guillerville,  12  June,  1572 ;  Paris .  Cab.  Hist.  ii.  p. 
227.  Sir  II.  Xorris  testifies  to  the  unhealthiness  of  Paris :  he  took  a  house 
beyond  the  walls,  "  to  be  out  of  the  corrupt  air  of  the  town,  which  surely  is 
such  as  none  other  to  be  compared  to  Paris."  Wright;  Elizabeth,  i.  306. 
See  also  Coryat :  Cmdlties. 

%  Mdlle.  Vauvilliers,  whose  conscientious  biography  of  Joan  of  Navarre  is 
marred  by  the  absence  of  dates  and  authorities,  says  that  an  autopsy  was 
several  times  ordered,  but  never  made  (iii.  p.  194).  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Clironoloyie  Novennaire  expressly  states  that  Caillard,  her  physician,  and 
Desnceuds,  her  surgeon,  dissected  the  queen's  brain,  which  they  found  in  a 
sound  state.  On  her  death,  see  Villegomblain  :  Mem.  des  Troubles,  i.  259  ; 
Bun- :  TJist.  Henri  IV.  (4to.  Paris,  1765)  ;  Favyn':  Hist.  Navarre,  p.  863  (fol. 
Paris,  1612). 


366  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

round  her  be'd  :  "  Do  not  cry,"  she  said  ;  "  God  is  calling  me 
to  that  better  life,  which  I  have  always  longed  for."  Her  great 
anxiety  was  about  her  children — her  son  Henry  and  her  daugh- 
ter the  amiable  Catherine :  "  I  trust  that  God  will  be  a  father 
and  protector  to  them,  as  he  has  been  to  me  in  my  sorest  trials. 
To  his  providence  I  commit  them,  feeling  sure  he  will  provide 
for  them."  With  these  words  she  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-four, 
leaving  a  name  still  mentioned  with  fond  respect  among  the 
mountains  of  Beam.  There  were  some  who  openly  exulted 
in  her  death,  calling  it "  a  judgment  from  heaven  upon  Jezebel 
the  Huguenot  queen."  But  hers  was  a  character  which,  though 
deficient  in  some  of  the  milder  features  of  a  woman's  nature, 
could  despise  such  uncharitable  judgment.  Voltaire  describes 
her  as 

Grande  par  des  vertus  qui  manquaient  a  son  fils, 

and  one  of  her  contemporaries,  adopting  the  words  of  Quin- 
tus  Curtius,  speaks  of  her  as  possessing  nil  muliebre  nisi  sex- 
urn  (nothing  in  common  with  her  sex  except  the  name  of  wom- 
an). After  her  conversion,  she  devoted  all  her  energies  to 
the  propagation  of  the  Reformed  faith,  even  (it  is  said)  to  the 
extent  of  preaching,  though  the  strongest  evidence  that  she 
ever  ascended  the  pulpit  is  a  doubtful  contemporaneous  cari- 
cature. Queen  Elizabeth  was  as  much  attached  to  her  as  her 
vain  and  selfish  nature  permitted.  Henry,  fully  alive  to  the 
importance  of  keeping  up  this  friendship,  wrote  to  announce 
his  mother's  death,  and  to  request  a  continuance  of  her  friend- 
ship :  "  Entertaining  the  same  desire  which  the  late  queen,  my 
mother,  always  manifested  toward  you,  I  most  humbly  entreat 
you  will  impart  to  me  that  friendship  and  kindness  which  you 
always  showed  her,  and  the  effects  of  which  we  have  known  in 
so  many  instances  that  I  shall  always  feel  myself  your  debtor, 
which  I  will  testify  in  every  thing  you  may  be  pleased  to  com- 
mand me  to  obey  and  do  service,  whenever  I  have  the  power."  * 
The  queen's  death  increased  the  distrust  with  which  many 

*  Lettres  missives  de  Henri  IV.  i.  p.  31.      Collect,  des  Doc.  Hist.  France. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  367 

of  the  Huguenot  party  looked  upon  the  demonstrations  and 
favors  of  the  court.  From  every  quarter  the  admiral  con- 
tinued to  receive  cautions  and  warnings  of  treachery ;  but 
firm  in  his  own  integrity  and  good  faith,  he  put  them  all 
aside.*  Many  of  his  friends  urged  him  to  be  on  his  guard. 
The  people  of  La  Rochelle  sent  him  more  than  one  address  on 
the  rumors  that  were  abroad  and  on  the  suspicious  aspect  of 
affairs ;  but  he  told  them  there  was  no  occasion  to  fear  (7th 
August).  Another  time  he  made  answer:  "A  man  would 
never  be  at  ease,  if  he  interpreted  every  action  to  his  own  dis- 
advantage. It  would  be  better  to  die  a  hundred  times  than 
live  in  constant  apprehension.  I  am  tired  of  such  alarms,  and 
have  lived  long  enough."  To  others  who  advised  him  to  leave 

o  o 

Paris,  he  said :  "  By  so  doing  I  must  show  either  fear  or  dis- 
trust. My  honor  would  be  injured  by  the  one,  the  king  by 
the  other.  I  should  be  again  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  a 
civil  war ;  and  I  would  rather  die  a  thousand  deaths  than  see 
again  the  miseries  I  have  seen,  and  suffer  the  distress  I  have 
already  suffered."  Another  time  he  said  :  "  I  can  not  leave 
without  plunging  the  country  into  fresh  wars.  I  would 
rather  be  dragged  through  the  gutters  than  resort  to  such  ex- 
tremity." An  intercepted  letter  from  Cardinal  Pelve  to  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  who  had  just  departed  for  Rome,  was 
brought  to  him.  He  read  in  it :  "  There  are  great  hopes  of 
success  in  the  enterprise ;  the  admiral  suspects  nothing ;  the 
Avar  with  Flanders  is  a  mere  trick ;  the  King  of  Spain  knows 
all  about  it."  The  letter  was  manifestly  a  forgery — a  device 
to  prevent  the  marriage,  and  the  admiral  treated  it  with  con- 
tempt. Many  of  the  warnings  he  received  were  like  prophetic 
dreams — remembered  only  when  the  event  confirms  their  fore- 
castings.  How  could  a  man  of  such  a  noble  and  generous 
character  be  suspicious  when  his  royal  master  was  treating 
him  with  so  much  kindness  and  deference !  Charles  had  learn- 


*Matthien,  I.  liv.  vi.  p.  343.     A  long  list  of  these  warnings  will  be  found 
in  the  Reveille-Matin. 


368  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ed  at  last  that  Philip  was  continually  intriguing  and  foment- 
ing disturbances  in  France.  He  was  not  so  blind  as  his  moth- 
er thought  him :  with  all  her  art,  she  could  not  effectually  re- 
press those  generous  flashes  which  from  time  to  time  burst 
out  only  to  make  us  regret  that  a  better  education  had  not 
fitted  Charles  for  his  royal  station.  When  he  wrote  inviting 
the  admiral  to  leave  Chatillon  and  come  to  Paris,  the  latter  de- 
clined on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  citizens.  "  You  have 
no  cause  to  fear,"  replied  the  king ;  "  they  will  attempt  noth- 
ing against  my  will."  At  the  same  time  he  ordered  Marcel, 
the  provost  of  the  merchants,  to  see  that  there  was  no  "  scan- 
dal "  (disturbance)  on  account  of  the  admiral's  arrival,  or  he 
would  be  answerable  for  it. 

Coligny  had  need  of  all  his  patience  and  all  his  loyalty. 
What  he  built  up  one  day  the  queen-mother  pulled  down  the 
next.  Catherine  told  the  Venetian  envoy,  Giovanni  Michieli, 
that  she  would  not  go  to  war  against  Spain  unless  Philip  com- 
pelled her :  "  Assure  their  lordships  of  Venice,"  she  added, 
"  that  not  only  my  words  but  my  acts  shall  prove  the  firmness 
of  my  resolutions."  *  In  a  few  hours,  as  we  have  seen,  Cath- 
erine had  recovered  her  empire  over  her  son,  who,  though 
physically  brave,  had  no  moral  courage,  and  could  not  bring 
himself  to  tell  the  admiral  of  his  altered  purposes.  No  one 
else  would  venture  to  do  so,  and  it  was  therefore  suggested 
that,  in  consequence  of  certain  intelligence  which  the  king  had 
received,  Coligny  should  be  requested  to  lay  his  plans  before 
a  committee  of  the  council  (consisting  of  Montpensier,  Louis 
of  Gonzaga,  Cosse,  and  others),  who  were  certain  to  condemn 
them.  They  unanimously  opposed  the  war,  and  after  ineffect- 
ually trying  to  bend  the  king,  he  turned  to  the  queen-mother, 
and  said :  "  Madam,  the  king  refuses  to  enter  upon  a  war  with 
Spain.  God  grant  he  may  not  be  engaged  in  another  which 
he  may  perhaps  find  it  not  so  easy  to  renounce."!  This,  which 

*  "Non  solo  con  le  parole  ma  con  gli  effetti ;"  and  Michieli  adds, 
"quanto  agli  effetti,  quello  die  e  poi  scguito  contra  gli  Ugonotti." 

t  Michieli :  Relazione ;  Baschet.    Salviati  wrote  (24th  August) :  "  Quando 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  369 

is  the  language  of  disappointed  hopes,  soxinded  very  like  a 
threat,  and  there  may  probably  have  been  a  bitterness  in  his 
tone  that  gave  a  meaning  to  his  words  he  never  intended  they 
should  bear.  He  only  meant,  what  he  had  often  said  before, 
that  the  best  mode  of  healing  the  wounds  of  the  past  wars 
would  be  to  march  the  two  parties  side  by  side  to  fight  a  com- 
mon enemy.  But  his  enemies  put  the  worst  construction  on 
his  language,  and  his  death  was  resolved  on.*  The  king  was 
very  impressionable :  if  he  were  suffered  to  consult  with  the 
admiral  again,  the  old  ascendancy  might  be  recovered,  and 
would  Coligny  be  inclined  to  use  his  new  power  mercifully? 
The  blow  must  be  struck  at  once,  but  first  the  union  of  the 
two  families  must  be  cemented  by  the  marriage  of  Henry  and 
Margaret. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  Henry,  now  King  of  Navarre,  entered 
Paris,  attended  by  the  Prince  of  Conde,  the  Cardinal  of  Bour- 
bon, the  admiral,  and  800  of  the  most  gallant  gentlemen  in 
France,  all  dressed  in  mourning  garments,  very  different  from 
the  gay  costumes  worn  by  the  Catholic  gentlemen,  who  went 
out  to  meet  him.  At  the  gate  of  St.  Jacques  he  wras  received 
by  the  Duke  of  Anjou  and  a  magnificent  train  of  nobles  and 
officers  attached  to  the  court.  The  corporation  of  the  city 
attended  in  their  scarlet  robes.  Conde  and  his  brother  the 
marquis  rode  between  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Chevalier 
d'Angouleme;  Henry  between  the  king's  two  brothers,  Anjou 
and  Alenyon.  The  united  trains,  amounting  to  1500  horse- 
men, proceeded  in  ominous  silence  through  the  crowded 
streets  to  the  Louvre.  No  voice  was  raised  to  greet  the  Hu- 
guenot princes,  though  many  a  murmur  showed  the  feeling  of 
the  populace,  who  from  time  to  time  raised  the  cry  of  "Guise" 
or  "  Anjou."  But  the  ladies  at  the  windows  were  more  de- 

serissi  ai  giorni  passati  che  1'  ammirnplio  a'  avanza  troppo,  e  clic  gli  darebbero 
sii  1'unghe  (a  rap  on  the  knuckles),  gia  mi  era  accorto  clic  non  lo  volevano 
piii  tollerare."  Walsinpham  was  quite  of  Coligny's  opinion  about  the  war. 
*  Tavannes  says :  "There  was  no  other  resolution  for  the  massacre  than 
what  the  admiral  and  his  adherents  occasioned." 

A  A 


370  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

monstrative,  as  Henry  of  Navarre  with  Ids  handsome  features 
and  winning  smile  bowed  to  the  saddle-bow,  or  occasionally 
pointed  to  some  group  more  attractive  than  usual,  which 
caught  his  eye  in  balcony  or  window.  In  after  years,  he  used 
to  look  back  to  this  as  the  happiest  day  of  his  life. 

For  a  moment  the  mocking  humor  of  the  Parisian  populace 
Avas  overawed.  But  when  the  escort  began  to  separate  and 
to  move  in  smaller  bodies  through  the  streets  to  gain  their 
lodgings,  the  mob  recovered  their  audacity :  "  Come  and  see 
the  accursed  Huguenots,  these  outcasts  of  heaven !"  As  the 
Protestants  wandered  through  the  city,  they  greatly  offended 
the  superstitious  prejudices  of  the  citizens  by  neglecting  to 
raise  their  hats  as  they  passed  the  crosses  or  the  images 
at  the  corners.  "  Deniers  of  God !"  muttered  the  bigoted 
priests,  as  they  scowled  on  the  men  who  passed  them  with  a 
look  of  scorn  and  pity.  The  Huguenots  have  been  accurately 
designated  as  "quasi  aliens," — men  alien  in  language,  cos- 
tume, and  religion.  For  years  the  sound  of  psalm-singing  had 
not  offended  Parisian  ears,  and  now  the  hated  words  of  Marot 
were  heard  once  more  in  their  streets.  What  wonder  if  there 
were  frequent  quarrels,  if  blood  was  shed,  and  if  it  was  found 
necessary  to  keep  the  Huguenots  pretty  much  by  themselves. 
"  Both  parties,"  says  Haton,  "  were  armed  and  equipped  as  if 
about  to  enter  upon  a  campaign."  The  Protestants  were 
walking  over  a  volcano,  and  there  were  bigots  and  fanatics 
among  them  who  seemed  to  court  rather  than  avoid  an  explo- 
sion. 

The  wedding-day  had  been  originally  fixed  for  the  10th 
June,  but  difficulties  about  the  dispensation,  and  then  the  ill- 
ness and  death  of  Joan  of  Navarre,  had  caused  the  ceremony 
to  be  delayed.  Pius  V.  had  (as  AVC  have  seen)  constantly  op- 
posed the  marriage,  and  refused  to  grant  the  dispensation  re- 
quired when  the  parties  were  of  different  religions,  and  also 
so  nearly  related.  But  the  new  pope,  Gregory  XIII.,  appears 
to  have  been  more  compliant,  or  the  letter  stating  that  the 
bull  of  dispensation  was  on  the  road  must  have  been  a  for- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  371 

gery.*  There  were  many  reasons  why  the  marriage  should 
be  put  off  no  longer.  As  the  young  queen's  health  was  deli- 
cate, and  she  was  soon  to  become  a  mother,  it  was  advisable 
to  get  her  away  as  early  as  possible  from  the  noise  and  mala- 
ria of  the  capital.f  It  was  therefore  arranged  that  the  wed- 
ding should  take  place  on  the  1 8th  August.  The  betrothal 
was  solemnized  the  day  before  at  the  Louvre,  whence,  after  a 
supper  and  ball,  the  bride  was  conducted  by  the  king  and 
queen,  the  queen-mother,  the  Duchess  of  Lorraine,  and  other 
lords  and  ladies,  to  the  palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Paris,  where, 
according  to  the  ceremonial  observed  in  such  cases,  she  passed 
the  night.  On  Monday  the  King  of  Navarre  went  to  fetch 
her:  he  was  accompanied  by  Anjou  and  Alenyon  and  a  host 
of  other  lords  of  both  religions.  Charles,  Henry,  and  Condc 
were  dressed  alike  to  show  their  close  affection.  . "  Every  body 
hates  me  but  my  brother  of  Navarre,"  the  king  once  said; 
"and  he  loves  me,  and  I  love  him."  Their  dress  was  of  pale 
yellow  satin,  embroidered  with  silver,  and  adorned  with  pearls 
and  precious  stones.  The  other  lords  were  richly  dressed  ac- 
cording to  their  fancy,  and  contemporaries  speak  with  wonder 
of  the  costly  ornaments  they  wore.  Michieli,  the  Venetian 
ambassador,  says  :  "  You  would  not  believe  there  was  any  dis- 
tress in  the  kingdom.  The  king's  toque,  charger,  and  gar- 
ments cost  from  five  to  six  hundred  thousand  crowns.  Anjou, 
among  other  jewels  in  his  toque,  had  a  set  of  thirty-two  pearls 
bought  for  the  occasion  at  the  cost  of  23,000  gold  crowns  of 
the  sun.  More  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  ladies  dazzled 
the  eyes  with  the  brilliancy  of  their  sumptuous  silks,  brocades, 
and  velvets,  thickly  interwoven  with  gold  or  silver."  Marga- 
ret very  complacently  describes  her  own  large  blue  mantle 


*  Grabut  says  the  marriage  took  place,  "  Grcgorii  XIII.  pcrmissu."  Acta 
Sanctorum. 

t  "Lunedi  (25  Agosto)'Ia  corte  so  ritira  a  Fontanablo,  dove  la  rogina 
farail  suo  parto."  Petrucci,  letter  20th  August.  On  the  23d,  giving  Duke 
Cosmo  an  account  of  the  attempt  on  the  admiral's  life,  he  says  :  "  Si 
pensava  chc  la  corte  partissc  martedi  prossimo"  (2Gih  August). 


372  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

with  its  train  four  ells  long.  According  to  the  custom  ob- 
served on  the  marriage  of  a  king's  daughter,  the  nuptial  cere- 
mony was  to  be  performed  in  a  pavilion  constructed  on  the 
open  space  fronting  the  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame.  It  was  a 
beautiful  summer  day;  cannons  roai'ed,  the  bells  rang  out 
cheerily  from  every  steeple,  and  every  roof,  window,  or  spot 
of  ground  whence  a  view  of  the  procession  could  be  caught 
was  densely  crowded.  But  the  spectators  were  not  so  joyous 
as  they  usually  are  when  any  great  pai'ade  of  state  is  to  be  ex- 
hibited. The  marriage  was  not  popular,  and  ominous  mur- 
murs against  the  heretics  were  heard  from  time  to  time.  A 
raised  covered  platform  led  from  the  bishop's  palace  to  the 
pavilion,  and  along  it  marched  bishops  and  archbishops  lead- 
ing the  way  in  copes  of  cloth  of  gold.  Then  came  the  cardi- 
nals resplendent  in  scarlet,  knights  of  St.  Michael  \vith  their 
orders,  followed  by  all  the  great  officers  of  state,  whose  places 
and  the  interval  between  them  were  regulated  by  the  strictest 
etiquette.  Among  these  was  Henry,  Duke  of  Guise,  then 
twenty-two  years  old,  one  of  the  handsomest  men  of  the  day. 
Countless  fingers  were  pointed  to  him,  and  Ms  reception,  com- 
pared with  that  afterward  given  to  the  king,  reminds  us  of 
that  so  inimitably  described  by  our  great  dramatic  poet : 

You  would  have  thought  the  very  windows  spoke, 
So  many  greedy  looks  of  young  and  old 
Through  casements  darted  their  desiring  eyes 
Upon  his  visage  ;  and  that  all  the  walls, 
With  painted  imagery,  said  at  once  : 
Jesus  preserve  thee  !  welcome  ! 

When  "the  well  grac'd  actor  left  the  stage,"  men's  eyes 
would  have  "  idly  bent "  upon  the  rest  of  the  procession,  but 
that  it  consisted  of  the  fairest  dames  and  damsels  of  the  court, 
chief  of  whom  was  the  bride  herself,  whose  beauty  deserved 
all  the  raptures  that  poets  have  lavished  upon  it.  Ronsard 
calls  her  "the  fair  grace  Pasithea,"  and  compares  her  hands 
to .  the  "  fingers  of  young  Aurora,  rose-dyed  and  steeped  in 
dew."  At  church  her  dazzling  beauty  disturbed  the  devo- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  373 

tions  of  the  worshipers.  She  had  just  completed  her  twen- 
tieth year :  her  complexion  was  clear,  her  hair  black,  her  eyes 
full  of  fire,  though  at  times  remarkable  for  a  dreamy  lan- 
guor, which  gave  her  a  voluptuous  and  tender  look,  as  if  to 
indicate  a  heart  that  was  framed  for  love.  All  her  move- 
ments were  full  of  grace  and  majesty.  She  was  unrivaled  in 
the  dance,  and  played  on  the  lute  and  sang  with  exquisite 
taste.  But  there  was  a  frightful  reverse  to  this  charming 
picture  :  she  was  untruthful,  vain,  extravagant,  and"  hoped  by 
her  devotion  to  the  forms  of  religion  to  atone  for  the  errors 
of  her  daily  life.  In  justice,  however,  to  Margaret,  let  it  be 
said  that  this  last  defect  was  not  peculiar  to  herself  or  to  the 
sixteenth  century ;  nor  dare  we  affirm  that  such  compromises 
between  God  and  the  world  were  more  common  then  than 
they  are  now. 

Margaret's  dress  on  her  wedding-day  was  long  the  talk  of 
court  gossips.  In  such  matters  her  taste  was  peculiar  and  ex- 
quisite. Brilliants  flamed  like  stars  among  her  hair ;  her 
stomacher  was  sprinkled  with  pearls,  so  as  to  resemble  a 
silvery  coat  of  mail ;  her  dress  was  of  cloth  of  gold,  and  rare 
lace  of  the  same  precious  metal  fringed  her  handkerchief  and 
gloves. 

After  the  marriage  ceremony  had  been  performed  in  the 
pavilion,*  Henry  led  his  bride  into  the  Church  of  Notre 
Dame  to  hear  mass,  and  then  withdrew  with  Conde,  the  ad- 
miral, and  other  lords,  who  passed  the  interval  walking  up 
and  down  the  cathedral  close.  The  historian  De  Thou,  then 
a  youth  at  college,  was  among  the  spectators  of  the  cere- 
mony. After  the  bridal  train  had  left  the  church,  he  leaped 
over  the  barriers,  and  found  himself  close  to  the  admiral, 
who  was  showing  Damville  the  banners  captured  at  Jarnac 
and  Moncontour,  which  hung  as  trophies  from  the  wall.  "  I 
heard  him  say,"  continues  De  Thou:  "Ere  long  these  will 

*  Davila  says  that  when  she  was  asked  whether  she  would  take  Henry 
for  her  husband,  she  made  no  reply,  and  that  Charles  with  his  own  hand 
bent  her  head  as  if  to  nod  assent.  Margaret  is  silent  on  the  matter. 


37-±  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

be  down,  and  others  more  agreeable  to  the  eyes  put  up  in 
their  place." 

Henry  conducted  his  wife  to  the  bishop's  palace,  where  a 
magnificent  dinner  had  been  prepared  for  them ;  but  there 
was  no  dancing :  not  that  bishops  had  any  objection  to  such 
amusements,  but  because  there  was  no  time,  for  a  magnificent 
supper  awaited  all  the  wedding-party  at  the  Louvre.  The 
next  three  days  were  passed  in  festivities,  balls  and  banquets, 
masques  and  tourneys,  in  which  both  Huguenots  and  Catho- 
lics took  part.  Old  enmities  seemed  forgotten.*  In  all  these 
amusements  Henry  of  Navarre  distinguished  himself.  He 
had  a  kind  word  for  every  body,  was  ready  with  jest  and 
humor,  charmed  the  ladies  by  his  gallantry,  which,  though 
rather  unpolished  (for  he  had  seen  more  of  camps  than  of 
courts)  was  the  more  pleasing  from  its  novelty.  Charles 
grew  fonder  of  him  than  ever,  while  his  dislike  for  Anjou  in- 
creased proportionately. 

On  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  the  20th  August,  a  splendid 
masque  was  represented,  in  which  some  historians  imagine 
that  the  coming  tragedy  was  actually  prefigured.  In  the 
great  hall  of  the  Hotel  Bourbon,  which  adjoined  the  Louvre, 
the  eternal  struggle  between  good  and  evil  was  depicted  in  a 
very  curious  way.  On  the  right  was  Paradise,  defended  by 
three  armed  knights  (the  king  and  his  two  brothers) :  on  the 
left  was  Hell,  and  between  them  flowed  the  Styx,  on  which 
Charon  plied  his  ferry-boat.  Behind  Paradise  lay  the  Ely- 
sian  fields  and  Heaven  resplendent  with  glittering  stars.  A 
body  of  knights,  armed  cap-d-pie,  and  distinguished  by  va- 
rious scarves  and  favors,  attempted  to  make  their  way  into 
Paradise,  but  they  wei'e  all  defeated  and  dragged  into  Hell,  to 
the  great  exultation  of  the  devil  and  his  imps,  who  closed  the 
doors  upon  them.  And  now  Heaven  opened,  and  there  de- 
scended from  it  Mercury  and  Cupid.  After  a  song  to  the 

*  Charles  IX.  to  Fcrrails,  24th  August:  "All  my  subjects  have  exhibited 
the  greatest  joy  and  contentment "  at  the  marriage.  It  is  clear  from  this 
letter  that  the  dispensation  had  not  arrived.  Raumer,  i.  281. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  375 

three  victorious  knights,  Mercury  (who  was  Etienne  le  Roi, 
the  first  singer  of  the  day)  re-entered  his  car,  which  was  borne 
by  a  cock  that  kept  crowing  lustily,  and  was  taken  back  to  Heav- 
en. A  ballet  f  olknved,  then  a  tilting-match — the  combatants, 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  were  on  foot.  The  amusements  were 
terminated  by  firing  trains  of  gunpowder  laid  round  a  fount- 
ain in  the  centre  of  the  hall.  It  is  absurd  to  attach  any  im- 
portance to  these  allegorical  representations,  which  were  the 
fashion  of  the  day,  and  were  probably  prepared  by  the  court 
poet  as  a  mere  matter  of  business,  and  who  certainly  would 
not  have  been  let  into  the  secret — if  there  were  any.  But 
after  the  massacre  the  Catholics  used  to  boast  that  the  king 
had  driven  the  Huguenots  into  hell.  The  next  day,  Thursday, 
other  shows  were  exhibited,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  ad- 
miral, who  wanted  to  leave  Paris,  which  he  could  not  do  until  he 
had  transacted  some  very  important  business  with  the  king, 
and  Charles  was  so  taken  up  with  the  wedding  festivities, 
and  entered  into  them  so  heartily,  that  he  scarcely  gave  him- 
self time  for  sleep,  much  less  for  business.  "  Give  me  three 
or  four  days  more  of  relaxation,"  he  said,  "  and  after  that  I 
promise  you,  on  my  royal  word,  that  you  shall  be  satisfied." 
Still  the  admiral  wanted  to  get  away,  and  would  probably 
have  left,  but  for  a  deputation  from  the  Huguenot  churches, 
who  prayed  him  to  remain  until  their  affairs  were  satisfactori- 
ly arranged.  The  admiral  longed  to  -be  at  home.  On  the 
wedding-day  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  he  wrote  to  his  wife 
the  last  letter  she  was  ever  to  receive  from  him. 

PARIS,  ISth  August,  1572. 
MY  DEAREST  AND  MOST  BELOVED  WIFE. 

To-day  the  marriage  of  the  king's  sister  with  the  King  of  Navarre  was 
celebrated,  and  the  next  three  or  four  days  will  be  occupied  with  banquets, 
masques,  and  other  amusements ;  and  when  those  are  over  the  king  has 
promised  to  devote  some  days  to  an  inquiry  into  the  complaints  that  arc 
made  from  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  about  the  infractions  of  the 
edict,  in  which  it  is  most  reasonable  that  I  should  employ  myself  ns  much 
as  possible ;  and  though  I  have  an  infinite  desire  to  sec  you,  yet  I  should 
be  very  sorry,  and  I  believe  you  would  grieve  also,  if  I  failed  to  interest  my- 
self to  the  extent  of  my  power.  At  all  events  the  delay  will  not  be  long, 


376  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

and  I  hope  to  leave  next  week.  If  I  studied  my  own  convenience  only,  I 
would  rather  be  with  you  than  stay  any  longer  at  court,  for  reasons  I  will 
tell  you ;  but  we  must  set  the  public  advantage  before  our  own.*  I  have 
much  to  tell  you,  when  I  see  you,  which  I  desire  night  and  day.  As  for 
news — the,  wedding-mass  was  sung  this  afternoon  at  four  o'clock,  the  King 
of  Navarre  walking  about  in  a  court-yard  with  all  those  of  the  religion  who 
had  accompanied  him.  Other  matters  I  leave  till  we  meet ;  meanwhile  I 
pray  God  to  have  you,  my  beloved  wife,  in  his  holy  keeping. 

P.S.  Three  days  ago  I  suffered  with  colic  pains,  which  lasted  eight  or 
ten  hours,  but  I  thank  God  that  by  his  goodness  I  am  now  quite  free  from 
them.  Be  assured  that  during  these  pastimes  and  festivities  I  will  give  of- 
fense to  no  man.  Farewell,  from  your  beloved  husband,  CHATILLON. 


On  Wednesday  the  admiral  had  an  audience  of  the  king, 
in  the  course  of  which  Charles  spoke  to  him  about  the  Guise 
faction,  remarking  that  he  was  not  sure  of  them ;  they  had 
come  in  strong  force  to  the  wedding,  and  were  well  armed ; 
and  to  keep  them  in  order  he  proposed  to  introduce  "  his  ar- 
quebusiers"  into  the  city  under  certain  officers  whom  he 
named.  Coligny  thanked  his  majesty:  "Although  I  believe 
myself  quite  safe,  I  willingly  leave  the  matter  in  your  hands." 
In  the  course  of  the  day,  1200  of  the  guard  marched  into 
Paris,  and  were  quartered  in  the  Louvre  and  its  vicinity. 
This  was  a  measure  of  precaution.  There  was  every  proba- 
bility of  a  collision  in  the  streets,  and  a  strong  force  was  nec- 
essary to  command  the  respect  of  both  factions.  Charles  was 
gradually  recovering  from  the  effects  of  his  mother's  entreat- 
ies at  Montpipeau :  the  more  he  saw  of  the  admiral,  the  more 
he  was  pleased  with  the  loyalty  and  honesty  of  the  old  Hu- 
guenot warrior.  Anjou  and  Catherine  had  attentively  watch- 
ed the  change.  In  that  remarkable  statement  which  the  duke 
is  believed  to  have  made  to  one  of  his  attendants,  he  says : 
"  We  had  observed  that  if  either  of  us  ventured  to  speak  with 
the  king  after  the  long  and  frequent  conversations  he  used  to 
have  with  the  admiral,  we  found  him  strangely  out  of  tem- 

*  This  is  in  direct  contradiction  to  Tavannes,  who  says:  "il  continue  scs 
aad.tccs,  importune,  se  ftchc,  menace  dejiartir,"  etc.  1J.  41G. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  377 

per ;  he  looked  angry,  and  the  answers  he  gave  were  unac- 
companied by  the  honor  and  respect  he  used  to  show  the 
queen.  One  day,  shortly  before  the  massacre,  I  went  express- 
ly to  see  the  king,  and  entered  his  closet  as  the  admiral  left 
it ;  but  as  soon  as  my  brother  observed  me,  he  began  to  pace 
the  room  angrily,  looking  at  me  askance,  and  playing  with 
the  handle  of  his  dagger,  so  that  I  expected  he  would  attack 
me  every  minute.  As  he  continued  in  this  furious  mood,  I 
began  to  regret  having  entered  the  room,  and  with  some 
trouble  contrived  to  leave  it  without  attracting  his  notice.  I 
went  straight  to  my  mother,  and  told  her  what  had  happen- 
ed, and  after  comparing  things  together,  we  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  admiral  had  inspired  the  king  with  some  sin- 
ister opinion  of  us,  and  we  therefore  determined  to  get  rid  of 
him,  and  to  concert  the  means  with  the  Duchess  of  Nemours, 
whom  alone  we  ventured  to  admit  into  the  plot,  because  of 
the  mortal  hatred  she  bore  to  the  admiral."  *  One  account 
says  that  a  council  was  held  at  Monceaux,  shortly  after  the 
scene  at  Montpipeau,  at  which  Anjou,  Tavannes,  Retz,  Sauve, 
and  Catherine  were  present,  and  where  it  was  resolved  to  as- 
sassinate Coligny ;  that  Catherine  told  the  Duchess  of  Ne- 
mours, and  that  the  court  then  returned  to  Paris.  This  does 
not  contradict  Anjou's  narrative,  though  it  does  not  exactly 
harmonize  with  it. 

The  Duchess  of  Nemours  was  the  widow  of  the  late  Duke 
of  Guise.  She  had  married  again,  but  still  nourished  the  most 
rancorous  hatred  against  the  supposed  murderer  of  her  first 
husband.  Her  son,  who  had  been  admitted  into  the  plot, 
proposed  that  she  should  kill  the  admiral  with  her  own  hand, 
in  the  midst  of  the  court  festivities,  and  before  the  eyes  of  the 
king.f  When  the  duchess  refused  to  take  so  active  a  part 

*  We  abridge  rather  than  translate  Anjou's  narrative,  whose  authenticity 
is  doubtful.  It  will  not  bear  minute  comparison  with  other  statements  of 
indisputable  truthfulness. 

t  See  Sal  viati's  letter  of  24th  Aupnst.  Mackintosh:  Hist.  England,  An- 
jou does  not  mention  the  presence  of  the  duke  at  this  meeting. 


378  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

in  Coligny's  murder,  they  sent  for  Maurevel,  the  king's  assas- 
sin (le  tueur  clu  roi),  as  he  was  called.*  This  man  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  late  Duke  of  Guise's  household ;  and  when 
a  price  had  been  set  upon  the  admiral's  head,  he  made  an  at- 
tempt on  Coligny's  life,  but  killed  Jacques  do  Mouy  instead. 
He  was  rewarded,  however,  for  his  good  intentions,  and  not 
only  received  the  promised  2000  crowns,  but  at  the  king's  ex- 
press desire  the  collar  of  the  Order  was  conferred  upon  him. 
This  was  the  ruffian  whom  Anjou  and  Henry  of  Guise  hired 
to  murder  the  great  Huguenot  leader.  After  receiving  the 
necessary  instructions  he  repaired  to  his  post ;  and  while  he 
was  watching  day  after  day  for  his  victim,  Catherine  was  de- 
vising fresh  amusements  in  honor  of  her  daughter's  marriage,  f 

*  "Maurevers  ct  non  pas  Maurevel,"  according  to  the  Art  de  Verifier, 
but  erroneously ;  ho  is  also  called  Moruel,  Montravel,  Maurevcrt,  and 
Moureveil.  His  real  name  was  Louvier,  sire  de  Maurevert  en  Brie.  For 
his  murderous  services  he  was  rewarded  with  two  good  abbeys.  L'Estoile's 
Journal.  He  accompanied  Marshal  de  Ketz  on  his  embassy  to  England  in 
1573,  and  on  his  arriving  at  Greenwich,  where  the  court  was  staying,  he 
was  recognized  by  a  page,  and  pointed  out  as  "the  admiral's  murderer!" 
A  shout  of  execration  was  raised,  he  was  chased  by  the  rabble,  and  never 
dared  show  himself  again.  Etat  de  France,  ii.  217.  He  was  killed  in  1583, 
in  the  Rue  St.  Honore',  by  young  Arthur  Mouy,  who  was  immediately  after 
shot  by  one  of  the  guards  who  always  attended  the  tueur  du  roi.  Villcgom- 
blain,  Mem.  p.  144.  Journal  du  Reyne  de  Henri  JIT.  p.  7 1 ,  ed.  Cologne,  1 G72. 
This  last  epithet  could  hardly  have  been  earned  by  the  commission  of  one 
murder — that  of  Mouy.  At  the  siege  of  Rochelle,  none  of  the  principal  of- 
ficers would  associate  with  him,  and  he  was  sent  to  an  isolated  post.  See 
Bouillon's  Memoirs,  p.  14. 

t  Some  writers  have  supposed  that  through  her  daughter  Margaret,  Cath- 
erine discovered  a  scheme  concerted  between  Charles  and  Coligny  to  banish 
both  her  and  the  Guises  from  court ;  and  that  a  common  danger  made  her 
combine  with  Duke  Henry  to  crush  the  Huguenots,  trusting  to  find  the 
means  afterward  of  counterbalancing  the  house  of  Lorraine. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BAETHOLOMEW.  379 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   ASSASSINATION. 

[22d,  23d,  and  24th  August.] 

Coligny  in  the  Tennis-Court — The  Fatal  Shot — The  King's  Indignation 
and  Threats — Letters  to  Provincial  Governors — Precautions  in  the  City 
— Interview  between  Charles  and  the  Admiral — Despair  of  Catherine  and 
Anjou — The  Huguenot  Council — Threats  of  violence — De  Pilles  and 
Pardaillan  at  the  Louvre — The  Turning-point — Conversation  between 
Catherine  and  Anjou — Meeting  in  the  Tuileries  Garden — Guard  sent  to 
Coligny — Scene  in  the  King's  Closet — Catherine's  Argument — De  Iletz 
Protests — Charles  Yields  at  last — Guise  in  the  City — Precautions — Anjou 
and  Angouleme  ride  through  Paris — Municipal  Arrangements — Charles 
and  La  Kochefoucault — Margaret  and  her  sister  Claude — Coligny's  last 
Night. 

THE  22d  of  August,  1572,  fell  on  Friday.  Early  in  the 
morning  Coligny  had  gone  to  the  Louvre  on  business,  and  was 
on  his  way  home,  when  he  met  the  king  coming  from  chapel. 
He  turned  and  accompanied  Charles  to  the  tennis-court,  where 
he  stood  a  short  time  watching  a  match  which  his  son-in- 
law,  Teligny,  and  another  were  playing  against  the  king  and 
the  Duke  of  Guise.  When  he  took  his  leave,  it  was  past 
ten  o'clock,  and  near  his  dinner-hour.  To  reach  his  hotel  * 
in  the  Rue  do  1'Arbre  Sec,  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de 
Bethisy,  he  had  to  pass  along  the  Rue  des  Fosse's  de  St. 
Germain.  As  he  was  turning  the  corner  with  De  Guerchy 
on  one  side  and  Des  Pruneaux  on  the  other,  a  shot  was  fired 
from  the  latticed  window  of  a  house  on  his  right,  known  as 
the  Hotel  de  Retz,  near  one  of  the  large  doors  of  the  cloister 
of  St.  Germain  1'Auxerrois  adjoining  the  deanery.  The  ad- 

*  It  was  the  hotel  of  the  Counts  of  Ponthieu;  and  in  the  18th  century 
became  an  inn,  under  the  title,  "  Hotel  de  Lisieux."  Hommes  illustres  de 
la  France,  1747. 


380  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

miral,  who  was  reading  a  petition  that  had  just  been  placed 
in  his  hands,  staggered  backward,  exclaiming,  "  I  am  wound- 
ed," and  fell  into  the  arms  of  the  Sieur  de  Guerchy.  He  was 
hit  with  two  bullets  :  one  carried  off  the  first  finger  of  the 
right  hand,  the  other  wounded  him  in  the  left  arm.  Pointing 
to  the  house  whence  the  shot  had  proceeded,  he  bade  Yolet, 
one  of  his  esquires,  go  to  the  king  and  tell  him  what  had  hap- 
pened. Des  Pruneaux  hastily  bound  a  handkerchief  round 
the  wounded  hand,  and  assisted  the  admiral  to  hig  hotel, 
which  was  fortunately  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  off. 
Meanwhile  some  of  his  attendants  broke  into  the  house,  but 
found  nobody  there  except  the  old  woman  in  charge  and  a 
horse-boy,  from  whom  they  learned  that  the  assassin  Maure- 
vel  had  escaped  through  the  adjoining  cloisters,  that  the  house 
belonged  to  Canon  Villemur,  formerly  tutor  to  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  and  that  the  horse  on  which  Maurevel  rode  away  came 
from  the  duke's  stables.  The  arquebuse  still  lay  in  the  win- 
dow, and  on  examination  proved  to  belong  to  one  of  Anjou's 
body-guard. 

With  this  important  but  unsatisfactory  information  they 
returned  to  the  admiral,  whom  they  found  lying  on  his  bed. 
Ambrose  Pare,  the  king's  surgeon-royal,  had  already  ampu- 
tated the  finger  and  extracted  the  ball  from  his  arm ;  but  the 
operation  was  a  painful  one,  for  the  famous  surgeon's  instru- 
ments were  not  in  good  order.  The  admiral  bore  the  torture 
better  than  his  friends,  who  could  not  restrain  their  tears : 
"  Why  do  you  weep  ?"  he  asked ;  "  I  think  myself  blessed 
to  have  received  these  wounds  in  God's  cause.  Pray  that 
he  will  strengthen  me."  Then  turning  to  his  chaplain  Mer- 
lin, who  was  much  distressed :  "  Why  do  you  not  rather  com- 
fort me  ?"  he  said.  "  There  is  no  greater  or  surer  comfort  for 
you,"  answered  Merlin,  "than  to  think  continually  that  God 
does  you  a  great  honor  in  deeming  you  worthy  to  suffer  for 
his  name's  sake."  "  Nay,  dear  Merlin,  if  God  should  handle 
me  according  to  my  deserts,  I  should  have  far  other  manner 
of  griefs  to  endure."  The  conversation  then  turned  upon  the 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  381 

attempted  murder :  "  I  forgive  freely  and  with  all  my  heart," 
said  the  admiral, "  both  him  that  struck  me  and  those  who 
incited  him  to  do  it ;  for  I  am  sure  it  is  not  in  their  power  to 
do  me  any  evil,  not  even  if  they  kill  me." 

The  news  of  the  outrage  spread  instantaneously  through 
Paris.  A  messenger,  all  breathless,  burst  into  the  tennis-court, 
where  the  king  had  continued  playing  after  Coligny  had  left, 
and  shouted :  "  The  admiral  is  killed !  the  admiral  is  killed  !" 
Charles  eagerly  questioned  him,  and  then  turning  abruptly 
away,  threw  down  his  racket,  angrily  exclaiming  as  he  left  the 
ground:  "S'death!  shall  I  never  have  a  moment's  quiet? 
Must  I  have  fresh  troubles  every  day?"*  He  withdrew  to 
his  apartments,  declaring  that  he  would  avenge  the  admiral, 
and,  writing  to  Mandelot  a  few  hours  later,  he  said :  "  I  have 
sent  in  every  direction  to  try  and  catch  the  murderer  and  pun- 
ish him,  as  his  wicked  act  deserves."  Then  continuing  in  lan- 
guage whose  sincerity  can  not  be  doubted :  "  And  insomuch 
as  the  news  may  excite  many  of  my  subjects  on  one  side  or 
the  other,  I  pray  you  make  known  everywhere  how  the  affair 
happened,  and  assure  every  body  of  my  intention  to  observe 
inviolably  my  edicts  of  pacification  and  to  chastise  sharply  all 
who  infringe  them,  so  that  they  may  be  convinced  of  my  sin- 
cerity and  follow  my  example."  To  La  Mothe-Fenelon, 
Charles  wrote  that  he  would  investigate  this  "  infamous  deed," 
and  not  suffer  his  edict  to  be  outraged.  He  ordered  Teligny 
to  mount  his  horse  and  ride  after  the  assassin,f  and  sent  to 
the  Provost  of  Paris,  bidding  him  take  precautions  against 
any  outbreak.  The  municipal  council  were  sitting  when  the 
royal  messenger  arrived,  and  without  delay  they  took  such 
measures  as  seemed  necessary  to  preserve  the  public  peace, 
which  at  that  moment  was  in  far  greater  danger  from  the  in- 
censed Huguenots  than  from  the  amazed  Catholics.  The  civ- 

*  He  left  with  a  "sad  and  dejected  countenance,"  says  the  Reveille-Ma- 
tin: "  Si  facesse  pallido  e  restasse  smarrito  oltro  modo,  e  senza  dir  paroln 
si  ritirasse."  Giovanni  Michieli,  Relazioni,  November,  1572. 

t  Letter  of  Petrucci,  23d  August.     Arcliiveo  Mediceo. 


382  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ic  guards  were  mustered,  the  post  at  the  Hotel-de-Ville  was 
strengthened,  the  sentries  at  the  gates  were  doubled,  the  citi- 
zens were  forbidden  to  close  their  shops,  and  no  person  was 
allowed  to  come  armed  into  the  streets.* 

Meanwhile  the  King  of  Navarre,  accompanied  by  some  600 
or  TOO  Huguenot  gentlemen,  visited  the  admiral,  threatening 
vengeance  upon  the  assassins.  Marshals  Damville  and  Cosse 
came  in  together.  "  Never  in  my  life,"  said  the  former,"  have 
I  suffered  such  a  heavy  blow.  Tell  me  what  I  can  do  to 
serve  you.  I  wonder  who  could  be  the  contriver  of  so  foul 
an  outrage."  "  I  suspect  no  one,"  replied  the  admiral,  adding 
after  a  pause, "  unless  it  be  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  that  I  dare 
not  say  for  certain.  I  am  grieved  to  find  myself  kept  to  my 
bed,  as  I  wished  to  show  the  king  how  much  I  would  have 
done  for  his  sake.  "Would  God  I  might  talk  a  little  with  him, 
for  there  are  certain  things  which  he  ought  to  know,  and  I 
am  afraid  there  is  no  one  who  dares  tell  him."  Teligny  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  the  Louvre,  where  he  met  Henry  of 
Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  who  had  just  left  the  royal 
presence.  They  had  gone  to  ask  permission  to  leave  the 
court  on  the  ground  that  they  could  no  longer  remain  there 
in  security.  Charles  was  greatly  excited,  and  earnestly  beg- 
ged them  to  stay.  Breaking  into  one  of  his  tempestuous  pas- 
sions he  declared,  with  his  usual  blasphemous  oaths,  that  the  ad- 
miral's blood  should  be  atoned  for ;  that  he  would  punish  all 
concerned  in  the  outrage,  "  so  that  the  child  unborn  should 
rue  the  vengeance  of  the  day."  Even  Catherine  was  alarmed 
at  this  burst  of  fury,  and,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  exclaimed, 
that  if  this  bloody  deed  were  suffered  to  pass  unavenged,  the 
king  would  not  be  safe  in  his  palace.  Teligny  delivered  his 
message  that  the  admiral  desired  to  see  the  king  before  he 
died,  and  Charles  promised  to  visit  his  old  friend.  It  seems 
pretty  clear  that  Charles  suspected  whence  the  blow  proceed- 
ed. His  sister  Margaret,  whose  memory  on  this  point  at  least 

*  Cimbcr,  vii.  p.  211. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  383 

is  likely  to  be  faithful,  says  that  "  if  M.  de  Guise  had  not 
kept  out  of  the  way  that  day,  he  would  have  been  hanged." 
And  no  doubt  the  king,  in  the  first  burst  of  passion,  would 
have  carried  out  his  threats. 

All  this  time  the  queen-mother  and  Anjou  were  in  a  dread- 
ful state  of  agitation.  The  blow  had  failed,  and  if  the  victim 
recovered  from  his  wounds,  their  participation  in  the  plot 
could  not  be  concealed.  "  Our  notable  enterprise  *  having  mis- 
carried," says  the  duke,  "  my  mother  and  myself  f  had  ample 
matter  for  reflection  and  uneasiness  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  day."  There  was  still  hope,  for  the  bullets  might  be  poi- 
soned, or  the  wounds  mortal.  There  was  danger  all  around 
them ;  Paris  was  in  a  terrible  ferment ;  the  Huguenots  were 
angry  and  suspicious.  The  Queen  of  Navarre  had  been  poi- 
soned (they  said),  and  now  their  old  leader  was  assassinated. 
Who  would  be  the  next  victim?  Murmuring  crowds  filled 
the  streets,  and  it  seemed  almost  impossible  to  prevent  an  out- 
break. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Charles,  accompanied 
by  his  mother  and  his  brother  Henry,  and  attended  by  many 
Avho  wTere  a  few  hours  later  to  stain  their  hands  in  innocent 
blood,  went  to  see  Coligny.  The  king  walked  in  moody  si- 
lence, so  absorbed  with  his  own  thoughts  as  to  omit  lifting  his 
hat  to  an  image  of  the  Virgin  at  a  street  corner.  He  hardly 
responded  to  the  salutations  of  the  people  who  crowded  the 
street  in  front  of  the  admiral's  hotel,  which  also  was  filled 
with  anxious  and  uneasy  friends.  Up  the  wide  staircase, 
lined  with  veterans  who  had  fought  by  the  side  of  Coligny 

*  Michieli,  the  Venetian  embassador,  snys  that  Guise  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it  (Baschet :  Relazioni.  p.  551),  and  adds  that  on  Friday  night  the  queen 
and  Anjou  told  Charles  of  the  plot. 

fThe  Ncustadt  letter  has  "Briidern  und  Miitter."  Archiv.f.  Geschickle, 
etc.  xvii.  1820  p.  278  (8vo.  Wien).  This  periodical  contains  a  curious  letter 
from  an  eye-witness  of  the  massacre  addressed  to  L.  Grnter,  bishop  of  Wiencr- 
Neustadt,  entitled  Relation  der  fram.  miff  St.  Bartholoviai  Tarj  vorgegangenen 
erschriicklischen  Execution  iiber  die  llvgenoten,  1572,  den  24  Auyusli,  anno 
1572. 


384:  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

on  many  a  bloody  field — through  the  antechamber,  where  the 
Huguenot  gentry  frowned  defiance  at  Catherine  and  Anjou, 
whose  enmity  to  the  admiral  was  well  known — into  the  large 
chamber  whose  windows  overlooked  the  court-yard — passed 
the  royal  party.  Charles  went  to  the  admiral's  bedside,  and 
calling  him  by  the  affectionate  name  of  "  father,"  asked  him 
how  he  felt.  "  I  humbly  thank  your  majesty,"  he  replied. 
"  for  the  great  honor  you  have  done  me,  and  the  great  troub- 
le you  have  taken  on  my  account."  Charles  desired  him  to 
cheer  up,  and  hoped  he  would  soon  be  well  of  his  wounds. 
"  There  are  three  things  about  which  I  longed  to  talk  with 
your  majesty.  The  first  is  my  own  faithfulness  and  allegiance 
toward  your  highness.  So  may  I  have  the  favor  and  mercy 
of  God,  at  whose  judgment-seat  this  mischance  will  probably 
set  me  ere  long,  as  I  have  ever  borne  a  good  heart  toward  your 
majesty's  person  and  crown.  And  yet  I  am  well  aware  that 
malicious  persons  have  accused  me  to  your  highness,  and  con- 
demned me  as  a  troubler  of  the  State.*  But  God  will  judge 
between  me  and  my  slanderers,  and  decide  according  to  his 
righteousness.  .  .  .  Now  as  to  the  Flanders  matter,  a  straw 
can  scarcely  be  stirred  in  your  secret  council  but  it  is  by  and 
by  carried  to  the  Duke  of  Alva.  Sire,  I  would  very  *fain  that 
you  had  a  care  of  this  thing.f  ...  The  last  which  I  would 
wish  you  to  have  no  less  care  of,  is  the  observing  of  your 
Edict  of  Pacification.  You  know  you  have  oftentimes  confirm- 
ed it  by  oath,  and  you  know  that  not  foreign  nations  only,  but 
also  your  neighbors  and  friends  are  witnesses  of  the  oft  renew- 
ing of  the  same  oath.  Oh,  Sire,  how  unseemly  is  it  that  this 
your  oath  should  be  counted  but  for  a  jest  and  a  mockery. 
Within  these  few  days  past,  a  nurse  was  carrying  home  a 
young  babe  from  baptism,  not  far  from  Troyes  in  Cham- 
pagne, after  attending  a  sermon  in  a  certain  village,  by  you 

*  With  a  few  verbal  changes,  the  account  of  this  interview  is  taken  from 
Golding's  Life  of  Jasper  CoJlynij.  London,  1576. 

t  La  Chapcllc  des  Ursins  made  the  same  reproach  to  Catherine,  July,  1572. 
St.  Foix  :  Hist.  Ordre  Suint-Esprit,  \.  p.  203. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  385 

assigned  for  the  same  purpose,  when  certain  persons,  who  lay 
in  wait  by  the  way,  killed  both  the  nurse  and  the  child,  and 
some  of  the  company  Avhich  had  been  bidden  to  the  christen- 
ing. Consider,  I  beseech  you,  how  terrible  that  murder  was, 
and  how  it  may  stand  with  your  honor  and  dignity  to  suffer 
such  great  outrages  to  go  unrevenged  and  unpunished  in  your 
kingdom." 

The  king  replied  that  he  had  never  doubted  the  admiral's 
loyalty,  but  had  always  taken  him  for  a  good  subject  and  ex- 
cellent captain,  without  his  peer  in  the  whole  realm.  "  If  I 
had  any  other  opinion  of  you,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  should  never 
have  done  what  I  have."  He  made  no  reference  to  the  Flem- 
ish war,  but  promised  that  the  Edict  of  Pacification  should 
be  kept  faithfully  and  strictly;  for  which  purpose  he  had 
sent  commissioners  into  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  appealing 
to  the  queen-mother  for  confirmation.  "  My  lord,  there  is 
nothing  truer,"  she  said  ;  "  commissioners  have  been  sent  into 
all  parts."  — "  Yes,  madam,  I  know  it,"  returned  Coligny, 
"  and  of  that  sort  of  men  who  valued  my  head  at  50,000 
crowns."  Charles  now  interposed  :  "  My  lord  admiral,  we 
will  send  others  ;  'you  are  getting  too  excited.  It  is  better 
that  you  should  be  quiet.  You  bear  the  wound,  but  I  the 
smart.*  I  swear  by  God's  life  that  I  will  take  such  terrible 
revenge,  that  it  shall  never  be  forgotten."  He  added  that 
two  persons  were'  already  in  custody,  and  inquired  whether 
the  admiral  desired  to  have  any  of  his  friends  in  the  commis- 
sion of  investigation.  "I  refer  it  to  your  majesty's  discre- 
tion and  justice,  but  as  you  ask  my  opinion,  I  could  desire  to 
see  Cavaignes,  Masparault,  and  another  appointed.  Surely 
there  needs  no  great  search  be  made  for  the  culprit."  Upon 
this  the  king  and  Catherine  drew  nearer  the  admiral's  pillow, 
and  talked  with  him  so  low  that  none  in  the  room  could  hear 
what  passed.  At  the  end  the  queen-mother  said :  "  Although 

*  "  So  imc  nuf  den  Fuss  trette,  wolle  er  demsellben  auf  die  Versen  tret- 
ten."  Neustadt  Letter,  p.  278. 

BB 


386  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

I  am  only  a  woman,  yet  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is  to  be  looked 
to  betimes." 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  gives  a  somewhat  different  account  of 
this  portion  of  the  interview :  "  As  the  admiral  desired  to 
speak  privately  with  the  king,  his  majesty  made  a  sign  to  my 
mother  and  to  myself  to  retire.*  We  accordingly  quitted  the 
bedside,  and  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  chamber,  full  of  sus- 
picion and  uneasiness.  We  saw  ourselves  surrounded  by 
more  than  200  Huguenot  captains,  who  filled  the  adjoining 
chamber  and  also  the  hall  below.  Their  countenances  were 
melancholy,  and  they  showed  by  their  gestures  how  dis- 
affected they  were,  omitting  to  pay  us  due  reverence,  as  if  they 
suspected  us  of  having  caused  the  admiral's  wound.  We  be- 
gan to  feel  great  apprehension,  so  much  so  that  the  queen  deter- 
mined to  put  a  stop  to  the  conversation  between  the  king 
and  the  admiral  under  some  plausible  pretext.  Approaching 
the  king,  she  said :  '  Your  majesty  is  wrong  in  permitting 
the  admiral  to  excite  himself  by  talking;  pray  put  off  the 
rest  until  another  day.' "  The  king  with  great  reluctance 
broke  off  the  conversation.  As  he  was  leaving,  he  proposed 
that  the  admiral  should  be  removed  to  the  Louvre,  lest  there 
should  be  any  commotion  in  the  city.  The  surgeons  protest- 
ed against  the  step,  and  with  regard  to  the  possible  tumult, 
some  one,  probably  Teligny,  answered :  "  The  Parisians  are 
no  more  to  be  feared  than  women,  so  long  as  the  king  contin- 
ues his  faithful  good-will  toward  the  admiral."  The  speaker 
knew  little  of  the  temper  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  turbulent 
city. 

Before  he  quitted  the  room,  Charles  asked  to  see  the  ball, 
and  praised  the  admiral  for  the  firmness  with  which  he  had 
endured  the  pain  of  the  operation.  The  queen-mother  then 
took  the  bullet,  and  poising  it  in  her  hand,  said  slowly  and 
significantly :  "  I  am  very  glad  that  it  is  not.  still  in  the 

*  "Hie  regi  in  arcano  qtuedam  a  Colinio  insinuata  divulgation  cst;  alii 
tamen  negant  ct  sccretum  hoc  de  industria  a  rcgina  impeditum,  ne  .  .  .' 
DC  Thou. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  387 

wound,  for  I  remember  that  when  the  Duke  of  Guise  was 
killed  before  Orleans,  the  surgeons  told  me  that  if  the  ball 
had  been  extracted,  even  though  poisoned,  his  life  would  not 
have  been  in  danger."  Why  did  Catherine  revert  to  the 
duke's  murder  ?  Was  it  to  remind  Coligny  that  he  had  been 
suspected  of  a  guilty  knowledge  of  Poltrot's  designs,  and  that 
the  son  was  but  the  minister  of  the  father's  vengeance  ? 

On  their  way  back  to  the  palace,  the  queen-mother  asked 
Charles  to  tell  her  what  the  admiral  had  said  to  him  in  pri- 
vate.* At  last,  annoyed  by  her  importunity,  he  answered, 
"  short  and  angrily,"  with  his  usual  oath :  "  S'death,  madam, 
the  admiral  only  told  me  the  truth.  He  said  that  kings  are 
respected  in  France  only  so  long  as  they  have  the  power  to 
reward  and  punish  their  subjects,  and  that  the  power  and 
administration  of  the  whole  realm  had  slipped  into  your  hands, 
and  that  such  a  state  of  affairs  might  one  day  be  prejudicial 
to  me  and  my  kingdom.  Of  this  he  wished  to  warn  me,  as  a 
faithful  servant  and  subject,  before  he  died.  And  now  you 
know  what  the  admiral  said  to  me."  Anjou  and  the  queen-moth- 
er were  greatly  vexed ;  but,  hiding  their  feelings,  they  tried  to 
excuse  and  justify  themselves  all  the  way  to  the  Louvre. 
Leaving  the  king  in  his  closet,  Anjou  went  to  his  mother, 
whom  he  found  in  great  agitation,  fearing  that  Coligny's  ad- 
vice would  lead  to  some  change  in  her  position,  and  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs.  Catherine,  usually  so  fertile 
in  resources,  was  quite  confounded:  she  could 'think  of  noth- 
ing, devise  nothing  that  could  extricate  them  from  their  em- 
barrassed position ;  and  the  two  conspirators  separated  for 
the  night,  hoping  that  the  morrow  would  bring  them  the 
means  of  deliverance. 

Not  long  after  the  royal  visitors  had  left  Coligny's  room, 
Ferrers,  vidame  of  Chartres,  entered  and  congratulated  the 
admiral  that  his  enemies  dared  not  assail  him  openly :  "  Bless- 


*  This  is  from  Anjou's  narrative  ;  bat  whether  proceeding  from  him,  or 
De  Retz  (as  some  think),  there  arc  no  means  of  testing  it. 


388  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ed  and  happy  are  you  that  the  memory  of  your  prowess  has 
extended  so  far."  "  Nay,"  replied  the  wounded  man, "  I  think 
myself  blessed  because  God  has  vouchsafed  to  pour  out  his 
mercy  upon  me ;  for  they  are.  rightly  happy  whose  sins  God 
forgiveth."  The  vidame  presently  withdrew  to  a  lower  room, 
where  the  King  of  Navarre,  Conde,  and  other  Huguenot  lords 
had  met  to  consult  on  the  course  to  be  adopted.  "Let 
us  arm  ourselves  and  garrison  the  house ;  fbr  this  is  only 
the  beginning  of  the  tragedy,"  said  some.  "  To  horse,  and 
away  from  Paris,"  said  others  ;  "  and  we  will  take  the  admi- 
ral with  us."  This  the  physicians  *  declared  to  be  impossible, 
unless  they  wished  to  kill  him  outright.  The  more  reason- 
able gentlemen  argued  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  do  more 
than  demand  justice  at  the  king's  hands  upon  the  murderers 
— an  opinion  which  Teligny  warmly  supported.  "I  know 
the  king's  mind  thoroughly,"  he  said ;  "  you  will  only  offend 
him  if  you  doubt  his  desire  to  do  justice."  For  a  long  while 
the  more  violent  party  would  not  give  way,  and  at  last  the 
meeting  broke  up  without  'coming  to  any  decision  farther 
than  that  they  should  consult  his  majesty,  whether  the  admi- 
ral should  be  removed  or  the  Huguenots  collect  round  him.  As 
they  marched  off  in  military  array  through  the  streets, 
threatening  the  Guises,  Anjou,  the  queen-mother,  and  even  the 
king  himself,  or  thundering  out  one  of  the  Huguenot  psalms, 
such  as  they  had  often  sung  as  a  war-song  on  the  eve  of  battle, 
the  prospect  of  an  armed  collision  must  have  struck  many 
thoughtful  observers.  The  position  was  very  dangerous :  an 
explosion  might  take  place  at  any  moment.  Indeed,  the  only 
do.ub.t  among  the  fiercest  spirits  of  both  parties  was  when  to 
begin.  That  very  evening  a  body  of  Huguenot  gentlemen, 
headed  by  those  "  stupid  clumsy  fools "  f  De  Pilles  and  the 
Baron  of  Pardaillan,  paraded  tumultuousjy  through  the  streets 
to  the  Louvre.  As  they  passed  before  the  Hotel  de  Guise, 


*  "II  nvait  alentour  de  lui  neuf  medecins  et  onze  chirurgiens."     Mem. 
de  I'fitat  de  France,  ii.  31  b.  t  La  Noue. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  389 

in  the  Marais,*  they  shouted  loud  defiance,  flourishing  their 
swords,  and  some  are  reported  to  have  discharged  their  pistols 
at  the  windows.  When  admitted  to  the  presence,  while  the 
king  was  at  supper,  they  fiercely  demanded  vengeance,  and  by 
their  looks  did  not  spare  Anjou,  who  was  at  his  brother's 
side.  "  If  the  king  refuses  us  justice,"  they  cried,  "we  will 
take  the  matter  into  our  own  hands." 

The  night  of  the  22d  was  the  turning-point  of  Catherine's 
policy.  The  threats  of  the  Huguenots  had  so  alarmed  her, 
that  her  nerves  were  quite  unstrung ;  visions  of  danger  start- 
ed up  before  her  wherever  she  turned.  Treacherous  herself, 
she  may  have  believed  the  tales  (if  they  were  not  of  her  own 
invention)  of  Huguenot  conspiracies,  which  she  afterward  em- 
ployed so  effectually  to  exasperate  the  impetuous  king.  Her 
policy  of  "  trimming  "  no  longer  seemed  possible.  Early  the 
next  morning  Anjou  had  another  interview  with  his  mother. 
The  night  had  not  brought  wisdom,  but  doubt.  Catherine 
still  wavered  between  contending  schemes.  On  one  point 
alone  she  had  made  up  her  mind — that  the  admiral  must  be 
got  rid  of  at  any  sacrifice,  now  that  Maurevel  had  so  unlucki- 
ly failed.f  Had  the  assassin's  bullet  struck  a  vital  part, 
Catherine's  trouble  would  have  been  at  an  end.J  She  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  Huguenots  without  a  leader :  Conde 
and  Navarre  were  young ;  they  were  in  her  power,  and  could 
do  nothing.  There  might  be  a  street  riot  between  the  parti- 
sans of  Guise  and  of  the  admiral ;  perhaps  the  duke  himself 
might  be  killed  in  the  fray.  But  now,  if  Maurevel  were 
caught,  his  employers  would  be  known  to  a  certainty.  Had 
not  the  rack  forced  Poltrot  to  confess  ?  Then  what  would 
become  of  her  beloved  Henry,  against  whom  Charles  was  al- 

*  The  Hotel  de  Clisson,  afterward  de  la  Misericorde,  was  purchased  by 
the  Duchess  of  Guise  in  1553.  The  old  gate-way  forms  the  entrance  to  the 
modern  Ecole  des  Charles. 

t"Le  malheur  avail  voultt  que  Maurevel  nvait  failli  son  coup."  Mem. 
de  Jlfarguerite. 

I  "  Se  1'  archibugiata  ammazava  subito  1'  ammiraplio,  non  mi  risolvo  a 
credere  che  si  fosse  a  un  pczzo."  Salvinti's  letter  of  August  24. 


390  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ready  so  violently  angered?  It  was  not  probable  that  the 
Duke  of  Guise  would  endure  the  odium,  or  silently  put  up 
with  the  king's  displeasure.  He  was  too  powerful  to  be 
made  the  scape-goat  of  another's  crimes,  and  was  such  a  favor- 
ite with  the  Parisians  that  to  give  him  up  might  be  perilous 
to  herself  and  her  sons.  As  she  had  not  strength  to  control 
and  restrain  both  parties,  she  must  side  with  one  of  them. 
Yet  there  was  danger  either  way — even  had  her  hands  been 
pure  from  Coligny's  blood.  The  victory  of  the  Huguenots 
might  lead  to  the  establishment  of  a  republic ;  the  victory  of 
the  Guises  (as  she  afterward  learned  to  her  sorrow)  might 
lead  to  the  deposition  of  her  son.  There  was  no  escape: 
Catherine  was  caught  in  the  meshes  of  her  own  crime.  Mau- 
revel's  work  must  be  completed.  But  how?  "Ruse  and 
finesse,"  says  Anjou,  "were  now  out  of  the  question."  The 
murder  must  be  done  openly.  There  were  serious  difficulties  in 
the  way.  Coligny  was  under  the  king's  protection,  and  how 
could  Charles  be  prevailed  upon  to  sacrifice  his  "  friend  and 
father  ?" 

There  are  three  different  narratives  of  the  proceedings  at 
the  Louvre  on  Saturday,  23d  August.  The  Calvinist  account, 
given  in  the  "  Memoires  de  1'Etat  de  France,"  may  be  dis- 
missed without  a  word ;  Margaret's  statements  are  almost  as 
unreliable ;  so  that  none  remains  but  that  which  bears  the 
name  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  Even  with  his  help  it  is  very 
difficult  to  trace  the  real  order  of  events,  or  to  make  his  nar- 
rative coincide  with  the  entries  in  the  register  of  the  City  of 
Paris.  One  thing  alone  is  clear,  that  Anjou  (or  his  reporter 
Miron)  is  not  telling  the  whole  truth. 

In  order  to  escape  observation,  the  queen-mother  summon- 
ed her  intimate  advisers  to  meet  her  at  the  Tuileries.*  The 
Louvre  was  too  crowded,  too  open  to  Huguenot  observation ; 
but  in  the  private  gardens  of  her  country  house  beyond  the 


*  This  meeting  is  not  mentioned  in  Anjou's  narrative ;  but  there  must 
have  been  some  such  preliminary  consultation  between  the  conspirators. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  391 

city  walls,  they  could  talk  without  danger.  Anjou,  Tavannes, 
Birague,  De  Retz,  and  Xevers  were  present,  but  of  their  de- 
liberations no  record  exists,  and  they  can  only  be  imagined 
from  the  result.  They  agreed  that  there  was  not  a  moment 
to  be  lost.  The  admiral  was  out  of  danger :  to-morrow  he 
might  be  removed  beyond  their  reach.  He  must  be  got  rid 
of  that  very  night.  If  he  and  five  or  six  other  Huguenot 
chiefs  were  dispatched,  all  would  be  well.*  There  is  a  worth- 
less story  of  a  sort  of  proscription  list  having  been  drawn  up, 
at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  names  of  Henry  of  Navarre 
and  the  Prince  of  Conde.  The  younger  Tavannes  claimed 
for  his  father  the  credit  of  saving  their  lives  ;  but  they  really 
owed  their  safety  to  the  queen-mother,  who  feared  that  their 
deaths  would  make  the  Guise  party  too  strong.  But  nothing 
could  be  done  without  the  king's  consent,  and  to  obtain  that 
would  be  no  easy  matter,  for  "  he  was  very  fond  (says  Mar- 
garet) of  the  admiral,  La  Rochefoucault,  Teligny,  La  Noue, 
and  other  Huguenot  leaders,  whom  he  hoped  to  make  use  of 
in  Flanders." 

All  that  Saturday  Paris  continued  in  a  very  restless  state. 
People  feared  some  great  catastrophe;  and  yet  their  fears 
took  no  definite  shape.  Suspicion  was  in  the  air,  and  the 
wildest  stories  were  circulated.  There  was  "  much  huffling 
and  shuffling  in  the  city;"  guards  had  been  posted  at  unusual 
places,  and  there  was  "  much  carrying  to  and  fro  of  arms  and 
armor,"  so  that  the  Huguenots  felt  it  expedient  "  to  consult 
of  the  matter  betimes,  for  no  good  was  to  be  looked  for  of 
such  turmoiling."  There  was  a  great  assemblage  at  the  hotel 
of  the  Duchess  of  Guise,  and  to  the  Huguenots  nothing  seem- 
ed more  likely  than  that  the  duke  would  make  a  sudden  at- 
tack upon  Coligny,  and  finish  what  had  been  so  inauspicious- 
ly  begun.  The  admiral's  friends  accordingly  dispatched 
Cornaton  to  the  king,  with  a  request  that  his  majesty  would 

*  Catherine  afterward  asserted  that  she  had  desired  the  death  of  six  men 
only  :  "  Reginam  dictitare  se  tantiim  sex  hominum  intcrfectorum  sanguincm 
in  suam  conscientiam  rccipere."  Scrranus  :  Status  Rei/nthl.  x.  20. 


392  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

be  pleased  to  order  a  guard  to  be  posted  at  the  admiral's 
house.  Charles  would  scarcely  believe  the  messenger,  and 
desired  the  presence  of  the  queen-mother.  Catherine  had 
hardly  entered  the  room  when  the  king,  "  being  in  a  great 
chafe,"  burst  out :  "  What  means  all  this  ?  This  man  tells 
me  that  my  people  are  in  commotion  and  arming  themselves." 
"  They  are  doing  no  such  thing,"  she  calmly  replied  ;  "  you 
know  you  gave  orders  that  every  man  should  keep  in  his  own 
ward,  as  a  security  against  tumult."  "  That  is  true,"  said 
Charles,  who  manifestly  did  not  believe  his  mother's  denial ; 
"  yet  I  gave  charge  that  no  man  should  take  up*  arms."  The 
Parisians  had  been  disarmed  some  time  before  the  court  had 
returned  to  the  Louvre;  but  the  weapons  which  had  been 
taken  away  were  now  being  removed  from  the  stores  in  the 
arsenal  to  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  that  they  might  be  ready  when 
needed.  If,  as  the  Huguenot  narrative  implies,  this  removal 
of  the  arms  took  place  in  the  early  part  of  the  day,  it  may 
have  been  an  innocent  measure  of  precaution,  but  its  wisdom 
is  doubtful  under  any  circumstances ;  if  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  day,  it  was  probably  in  connection  with  the  projected  mas- 
sacre. 

Coligny's  messenger  having  repeated  the  request  for  a 
guard,  Anjou,  who  had  come  in  with  his  mother,  said :  "  Very 
well,  take  Cosseins  and  fifty  arquebusiers."  "  Nay,  my  lord, 
it  will  be  enough  for  us  if  we  have  but  six  of  the  king's 
guard  with  us  ;  for  they  will  have  as  much  influence  over  the 
people  as  a  greater  number  of  soldiers."  The  king  rejoined: 
"  Take  Cosseins  with  you ;  you  can  not  have  a  fitter  man." 
Cosseins  was  the  admiral's  mortal  enemy ;  but  he  was  also  at 
variance  with  the  Guises,  and  it  might  have  been  supposed 
that  in  case  of  any  outbreak  of  the  latter,  the  marshal  would 
not  spare  them  As  Cornaton  left  the  presence,  Thore,  the 
brother  of  Marshal  Montmorency,  whispered  in  his  ear :  "  You 
could  not  have  had  a  more  dangerous  keeper."  "  What  could  I 
do?"  was  the  rejoinder;  "you  saw  how  absolutely  the  king 
commanded  it.  We  have  committed  ourselves  to  his  honor, 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  393 

but  you  are  a  witness  of  my  first  answer  to  the  king's  ap- 
pointment. A  few  hours  later  Cosseins  posted  his  fifty  sol-  • 
diers  in  two  houses  close  to  the  admiral's ;  *  and  orders  came 
from  the  king — other  authorities  say  from  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou — commanding  the  inhabitants  to  remove  out  of  the  street 
in  order  to  accommodate  the  friends  of  Coligny.  It  is  not 
known  how  far  this  order  was  carried  out :  probably  not  at 
all ;  but  it  has  usually  been  regarded  as  a  very  Machiavellian 
contrivance  to  get  all  the  Huguenots  together,  that  they  might 
be  killed  the  more  easily.  On  the  other  hand,  by  collecting 
a  little  Huguenot  garrison  around  him,  the  admiral  would  be 
safer  than  if  he  had  remained  alone  in  the  street.  Had  there 
been  the  slightest  resistance  at  first,  the  plot  would  have  mis- 
carried, and  neither  Anjou  nor  his  mother  would  have  been 
so  weak  as  to  put  obstructions  in  the  way  of  their  own  suc- 
cess. 

Meanwhile  the  government  was  busily  occupied  in  sending 
dispatches  all  over  the  country  and  abroad,  describing  the 
events  of  the  previous  day.  It  was  most  important  to  prevent 
a  rising  of  the  Huguenots,  whose  suspicions  had  been  so  cru- 
elly confirmed  by  the  attempt  on  the  admiral's  life.  In  order 
to  calm  them,  the  provincial  governors  and  magistrates  were 
directed  to  assure  them  that  justice  should  be  executed  on  the 
perpetrators  and  abettors  of  the  crime.  The  letter  to  D'Es- 
quilly,  governor  of  Chartres,  may  be  taken  as  a  sample  of  the 
whole.  In  it  the  king  ascribes  the  attempt  to  the  Guise  fac- 
tion, adding  that  it  arose  out  of  a  private  quarrel  between  the 
two  houses  of  Chatillon  and  Guise,  which  he  had  tried  all  in 
his  power  to  arrange.  He  orders  the  edict  to  be  observed 
"  as  strictly  as  ever,"  for  fear  the  recent  outrage  should  pro- 
voke his  subjects  to  rise  against  each  other,  and  great  massa- 

*  It  is  stated  in  the  Nciistadt  letter  that  the  Swiss  soldiers  of  Navarre 
mounted  guard  inside  the  house,  while  the  French  guard  were  posted  out- 
side, immediately  after  the  king's  visit  on  Friday,  and  that  the  pass-word 
was  very  strict,  in  order  to  prevent  any  fresh  attempt  on  the  admiral's  life. 
Archiv.fur  Geschichte,  etc.  xvii.  1826,  p.  278. 


394  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

•  cres  be  perpetrated  in  the  cities,  for  which  he  would  feel  "  a 

•  marvelous  regret."  *     Coligny  also  wrote  to  the  Protestant 
churches,  desiring  them  to  be  calm,  for  his  wounds  were  not 
mortal,  and  the  assassins  were  being  pursued. 

During  the  forenoon  of  Saturday  the  Duke  of  Guise,  having 
heard  of  the  king's  angry  speeches  against  him,  went  to  the 
Louvre  with  his  uncle  Aumale,  and  pretending  to  fear  the  vi- 
olence of  the  Huguenots,  begged  his  majesty's  permission  to 
leave  the  court  for  awhile.  Charles,  scarcely  condescending 
to  look  at  them,  bade  them  begone :  "  If  you  are  guilty,  I  shall 
know  where  to  find  you."  Collecting  his  suite  together,  the 
duke  rode  ostentatiously  out  of  one  of  the  gates,  and  stealthily 
re-entered  by  another,  keeping  himself  ready  for  any  emer- 
gency. 

The  commotions  in  the  city  were  but  a  faint  copy  of  the 
tumults  by  which  the  bosom  of  the  queen-mother  was  agi- 
tated. She  had  staked  every  thing  upon  the  hazard  of  a 
throw.  Nothing  farther  could  be  done  without  the  king's 
consent,  and  that  must  be  obtained  per  fas  et  nefas.  Accord- 
ing to  Anjou's  evidence,  Charles  retired  into  his  cabinet  aft- 
er dinner,  and,  as  the  dinner-hour  was  eleven,  the  time  must 
have  been  about  midday.  He  was  followed  by  his  brother, 
the  queen-mother,  Severs,  Tavannes,  Retz,  and  Birague.  It 
was  an  ordinary  council  meeting,  and  they  assembled  to  con- 
sult as  to  what  should  be  done  to  preserve  tranquillity.  Cath- 
erine immediately  began  a  long  story  about  the  Huguenots 
arming  against  the  king  on  account  of  the  admiral's  wound. 
"  From  letters  that  have  been  intercepted,  I  learn  that  they 
have  sent  into  Germany  for  10,000  reiters  and  to  Switzerland 
for  6000  foot.  Many  Huguenot  officers  have  already  started 
for  the  provinces  to  raise  soldiers,  and  the  mustering-places 
have  been  all  arranged.  Such  a  force  as  the  Huguenots  will 
soon  have  under  arms,  your  majesty's  troops  are  not  strong 
enough  to  resist.  Before  long  the  whole  kingdom  will  be  in 
revolt  under  the  pretext  of  the  public  good,  and,  as  your 
*  Paris  :  Cabinet  Hist.  ii.  259. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  395 

majesty  has  neither  men  nor  money,  I  see  no  place  of  securi- 
ty for  you  in  France.  .  .  .  Your  majesty  should  also  know 
that  a  still  greater  danger  threatens  your  person.  They  have 
conspired  to  place  Henry  of  Navarre  on  the  throne."  The  latter 
statement,  although  supported  by  Alva's  bulletin,*  is  unworthy 
of  a  moment's  credit.  Margaret's  silence  is  conclusive  evi- 
dence against  it.  The  former  statement  is  equally  opposed 
to  the  truth.  Walsingham  writes  that  Montgomery  paid  him 
a  visit  between  nine  and  ten  on  Friday  night,  and  told  him, 
"  that  as  he  and  those  of  the  Reform  had  just  occasion  to  be 
right  sorry  for  the  admiral's  hurt,  so  had  they  no  less  cause  to 
rejoice  to  see  the  king  so  careful  [anxious],  as  well  for  the 
curing  of  the  admiral,  as  also  for  the  searching  out  of  the 
party  that  hurt  him."f 

The  queen-mother  continued :  "  There  is  another  matter  of 
great  importance  that  ought  not  to  be  kept  from  you.  The 
Catholics  are  thoroughly  tired  of  the  long  wars,  and  of  being 
crushed  by  all  sorts  of  calamities,  and  they  will  endure  it  no 
longer.  They  will  make  an  end  of  this  state  of  things,  once 
for  all." 

"  What  would  they  have  ?"  interrupted  Charles.  "  I  am 
as  weary  of  war  as  any  of  them,  and  as  determined  that  my 
peace  shall  be  kept.  What  better  hope  of  success  have  they 
now  than  at  Moncontour  or  Jarnac  ?  I  will  hang  the  first 
man  that  draws  a  sword." 

CATHERINE.— r  But  your  majesty  has  not  the  power;  things 
are  gone  too  far.  They  have  resolved  to  elect  a  captain-gen- 
eral and  make  a  league  offensive  and  defensive  against  the  Hu- 
guenots. Your  majesty  will  thus  stand  alone,  without  power 
and  authority.  France  will  be  divided  into  two  great  camps, 
over  wThich  you  will  have  no  control.  There  will  be  danger  to 
all  of  us,  and  certain  death  and  destruction  to  many  thousands, 
all  of  which  may  be  prevented  by  a  single  stroke  of  the  sword. 

KIXG. —  I  do  not  understand  you,  ma  mdre ;  you  speak 
in  riddles. 

*  Arc/lives  de  Mans.  f  Digges,  p.  254. 


396  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

CATHERINE. —  To  speak  plainly,  then,  we  must  cut  off  the 
head  and  author  of  the  civil  wars.  M.  de  Chatillon  must  be 
disposed  of. 

At  these  words  the  king  burst  into  one  of  his  fits  of  passion, 
which  so  alarmed  the  council  that  none  of  them  ventured  to 
interpose  a  word.  The  queen-mother  allowed  Charles  to  ex- 
haust himself,  and  then  resumed  in  her  most  insinuating  man- 
ner :  "  The  remedy,  I  confess,  is  desperate,  but  there  is  no  other. 
The  Huguenot  plans,  now  ripe  for  execution,  will  die  with  their 
leader.  The  Catholics,  satisfied  by  the  sacrifice  of  two  or 
three  men,  will  remain  obedient,  and  all  will  be  well." 

Other  arguments  were  used,  to  which  the  king  listened 
moodily,  turning  from  one  to  another  of  his  councilors,  as  if 
to  ask  whether  his  mother  was  speaking  the  truth.  But  their 
trained  looks  confirmed  the  cunning  tale.  Still  he  was  not  con- 
vinced, and  once  more  giving  way  to  a  burst  of  passion,  he 
swore  he  would  not  have  M.  de  Chatillon  touched  :  "  Woe  to 
any  on  ewho  injures  a  hair  of  his  head  !  He  is  the  only  true 
friend  I  have  ;  all  the  rest  are  knaves,  they  are  all  sold  to  the 
Spaniard — all,  except  my  brother  of  Navarre." 

Still  the  queen-mother  did  not  flinch ;  she  had  too  much  at 
stake.  "  Do  what  you  will,"  she  appears  to  have  said,  "  the 
attack  on  the  admiral  will  be  laid  at  our  door,  unless  M.  de 
Guise  is  punished,  and  he  is  too  strong  for  us — at  least  in  Paris. 
France  will  again  be  torn  by  civil  war,  and  I  see  but  one  way  of 
escape.  If  we  must  fight,  let  us  strike  the  blaw  at  once,  while 
the  enemy  is  still  in  Paris  and  unorganized."  And  probably 
thinking  of  Alva's  advice  nine  years  before,  she  added :  "  If  we 
cut  off  the  chiefs,  the  others  are  powerless.  We  must  either 
have  the  Guises  with  us  or  against  us.  Our  only  safety  is  to 
call  Duke  Henry  to  our  side,  make  him  our  tool,  and  .  .  . 
(here  she  paused,  as  if  to  watch  the  effect  of  her  words)  .  .  . 
and  afterward  ruin  him  forever  by  throwing  all  the  blame  upon 
him."  As  Charles  was  still  unmoved  by  such  reasoning,  and 
divided  between  love  for  Coligny  and  respect  for  his  mother, 
he  asked  the  advice  of  his  council.  They  gave  their  opinions 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  397 

separately,  and  all  agreed  with  Catherine,  except  De  Retz, 
who,  to  their  great  astonishment,  said  :  "  No  man  can  hate  the 
admiral  and  his  party  more  than  I  do ;  but  I  will  not,  at  the 
expense  of  the  king  my  master,  avenge  myself  on  my  private 
enemies  by  a  counsel  so  dangerous  to  him  and  to  his  kingdom, 
and  so  dishonorable  to  all.  "We  shall  be  taxed  with  perfidy 
and  disloyalty,  and  by  one  act  shake  all  confidence  in  the  faith 
and  word  of  a  king,  and  consequently  of  treating  afterward 
for  the  pacification  of  the  kingdom  in  the  case  of  future  wars. 
We  shall  be  deceived  if  we  think  to  escape  foreign  armies  by 
such  a  treacherous  act,  and  we  shall  never  see  the  end  of  the 
calamity  and  ruin  it  would  bring  upon  us."*  This  answer  quite 
staggered  the  queen-mother  and  her  advisers ;  but  as  no  one 
supported  De  Retz,  his  opinion  had  no  weight,  and  that  may 
be  why  he  gave  utterance  to  it. 

Still  the  king  was  not  convinced :  he  sat  moody  and  silent, 
biting  his  nails  as  was  his  wont.  He  would  come  to  no  deci- 
sion. He  asked  for  proofs,  and  none  were  forthcoming,  except 
some  idle  gossip  of  the  streets  and  the  foolish  threats  of  a  few 
hot-headed  Huguenots.  Charles  had  learned  to  love  the  ad- 
miral :  could  he  believe  that  the  gentle  Teligny  and  that  Roche- 
foucault,  the  companion  of  his  rough  sports,  were  guilty  of 
the  meditated  plot?  He  desired  to  be  King  of  France — of 
Huguenots  and  Catholics  alike — not  king  of  a  party.  Cath- 
erine, in  her  despair,  employed  her  last  argument.  She  whis- 
pered in  his  ear :  "  Perhaps,  Sire,  you  are  afraid."  As  if 
•struck  by  an  arrow,  he  started  from  his  chair.  Raving  like  a 
madman,  he  bade  them  hold  their  tongues,  and  with  fearful 

*  Brantome  calls  De  Retz  the  first  and  principal  adviser  of  the  deed  ; 
Davila  says  that  he  obtained  the  king's  consent  to  the  massacre  ;  and  Mar- 
garet states  that  the  queen-mother  sent  him  to  Charles  between  nine  and 
ten  o'clock  at  night,  "  because  he  (De  Retz)  had  more  influence  with  him," 
and  that  he  justified  his  mother  and  Anjou  for  trying  to  get  rid  of  that  pest 
"  the  admiral."  Tavannes  partly  supports  these  statements.  I  give  the 
preference  (reluctantly)  to  Anjou's  narrative,  because  it  removes  much  of 
the  confusion  which  would  otherwise  envelop  the  remainder  of  this  event- 
ful dav. 


398  MASSACRE  OP  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

oaths  exclaimed, "  Kill  the  admiral  if  you  like,  but  kill  all  the 
Huguenots  with  him — all — all — all — so  that  not  one  be  left  to 
reproach  me  hereafter.  See  to  it  at  once — at  once ;  do  you 
hear  ?"  *  '  And  he  dashed  furiously  out  of  the  closet,  leaving 
the  conspirators  aghast  at  his  violence. 

But  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost :  the  king  might  change 
his  mind ;  the  Huguenots  might  get  wind  of  the  plot.  The 
murderous  scheme  must  be  carried  out  that  very  night,  and 
accordingly  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  summoned  to  the  Louvre. 
And  now  the  different  parts  of  the  tragedy  were  arranged, 
Guise  undertaking,  on  the  strength  of  his  popularity  with  the 
Parisian  mob,  to  lead  them  to  the  work  of  blood.  "We  may 
also  imagine  him  begging  as  a  favor  the  privilege  of  dispatch- 
ing the  admiral  in  retaliation  for  his  father's  murder.  The 
city  was  parted  out  into  districts,  each  of  which  was  assigned 
to  some  trusty  officer,  Marshal  Tavannes  having  the  general 
superintendence  of  the  military  arrangements.  The  conspira- 
tors now  separated,  intending  to  meet  again  at  ten  o'clock. 
Guise  went  into  the  city,  where  he  communicated  his  plans  to 
such  of  the  mob-leaders  as  could  be  trusted.  lie  told  them  of 
a  bloody  conspiracy  among  the  Huguenot  chiefs  to  destroy  the 
king  and  royal  family  and  extirpate  Catholicism ;  that  a  re- 
newal of  war  was  inevitable,  but  it  was  better  that  war  should 
come  in  the  streets  of  Paris  than  in  the  open  field,  for  the 
leaders  would  thus  be  far  more  effectually  punished  and  their 
followers  crushed.  He  affirmed  that  letters  had  been  inter- 
cepted in  which  the  admiral  had  sought  the  aid  of  German 
reiters  and  Swiss  pikemen,  and  that  Montmorency  was  ap- 
proaching with  25,000  men  to  burn  the  city,  as  the  Huguenots 
had  often  threatened.  And,  as  if  to  give  color  to  this  idle 
story,  a  small  body  of  cavalry  had  been  seen  from  the  walls  in 
the  early  part  of  the  day. 

*  On  this  Menselius  remarks,  that  if  the  account  be  true,  "Ipse  (Anjon) 
cum  matre  minimc  caedis  detestandae  particeps  habendus  esset,  sed  solus  rex 
Carolus  eandem  animo  concessissef.''  Blbliothcca  Historica,  vii.  pars  2*,  \\ 
213.  Lipsia;,  1795.  Few  will  agree  with  the  conclusion. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  399 

Such  arguments  and  such  falsehoods  were  admirably  adapt- 
ed to  his  hearers,  who  swore  to  carry  out  the  duke's  orders 
with  secrecy  and  dispatch.  "  It  is  the  will  of  our  lord  the 
Icing,"  continued  Henry  of  Guise,  "  that  every  good  citizen 
should  take  up  arms  to  purge  the  city  of  that  rebel  Coligny 
and  his  heretical  followers.  The  signal  will  be  given  by  the 
great  bell  of  the  Palace  of  Justice.  Then  let  every  true  Cath- 
olic tie  a  white  band  on  his  arm  and  put  a  white  cross  on  his 
cap,  and  begin  the  vengeance  of  God."  Finding  upon  inquiry 
that  Le  Charron,  the  provost  of  the  merchants,  was  too 
weak  and  tender-hearted  for  the  work  before  him,  the  duke 
suggested  that  the  municipality  should  temporarily  confer  his 
power  on  the  ex-provost  Marcel,  a  man  of  a  very  different 
stamp. 

About  four  in  the  afternoon  Anjou  rode  through  the  crowd- 
ed streets  in  company  with  his  bastard  brother  Angouleme. 
lie  watched  the  aspect  of  the  populace,  and  let  fall  a  few  in- 
sidious expressions  in  no  degree  calculated  to  quiet  the  turbu- 
lent passions  of  the  citizens.  One  account  says  he  distributed 
money,  which  is  not  probable,  his  afternoon  ride  being  mere- 
ly a  sort  of  reconnaissance.  The  journals  of  the  Hotel-de- 
Ville  still  attest  the  anxiety  of  the  court — of  Catherine  and 
her  fellow-conspirators — that  the  massacre  should  be  sweep- 
ing and  complete.  "  Very  late  in  the  evening  " — it  must  have 
been  after  dark,  for  the  king  went  to  lie  down  at  eight,  and 
did  not  rise  until  ten — the  provost  was  sent  for.*  At  the 
Louvre  he  found  Charles,  the  queen-mother,  and  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  with  other  princes  and  nobles,  among  whom  we  may 
safely  include  Guise,  Retz,  and  Tavannes.  The  king  now  re- 
peated to  him  the  story  of  a  Huguenot  plot,  which  had  already 
beeu  whispered  abroad  by  Guise  and  Anjou,  and  bade  him 

*  Juan  dc  Olacp;ui  says  that  Marcel,  "  cabeca  de  los  vczinos,"  was  sent 
for,  bat  the  city  registers  sny  Le  Charron.  Gachard  :  1 ' 'articulariles  inedites 
in  Bull.  Arud.  Sci.  Bruxelles,  xvi.  1849,  p.  23">.  If  the  "  an  soir  bien  tard  " 
of  Anjou's  narrative  means  "late  in  the  afternoon,"  there  were  probably 
two  meetings,  at  the  latter  of  which  Marcel  was  present. 


400  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

shut  the  gates  of  the  city,  so  that  no  one  could  pass  in  or  out, 
and  take  possession  of  the  keys.  He  was  also  to  draw  up  all 
the  boats  on  the  river-bank  and  chain  them  together,  to  re- 
move the  ferry,  to  muster  under  arms  the  able-bodied  men  of 
each  ward  under  their  proper  officers,  and  hold  them  in  read- 
iness at  the  usual  mustering-places  to  receive  the  orders  of 
his  majesty.  The  city  artillery,  wrhich  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  so  formidable  as  the  word  would  imply,  was  to  be 
stationed  at  the  Greve  to  protect  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  or  for 
any  other  duty  required  of  it.  With  these  instructions  the 
provost  returned  to  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  where  he  spent  great 
part  of  the  night  in  preparing  the  necessary  orders,  which 
were  issued  "  very  early  the  next  morning."  *  There  is  rea- 
son for  believing  that  these  measures  were  simply  precautions 
in  case  the  Huguenots  should  resist,  and  a  bloody  struggle 
should  have  to  be  fought  in  the  streets  of  the  capital.  The 
municipality  certainly  took  no  part  in  the  earlier  massacres, 
whatever  they  may  have  done  later.  Tavannes  complains  of 
the  "  want  of  zeal "  in  some  of  the  citizens,  and  Brantome  ad- 
mits that  "  it  was  necessary  to  threaten  to  hang  some  of  the 
laggards." 

That  evening  the  king  had  supped  in  public,  and  the  hours 
being  much  earlier  than  with  us,  the  time  was  probably  be- 
tween six  and  seven.  The  courtiers  admitted  to  witness  the 
meal  appear  to  have  been  as  numerous  as  ever,  Huguenots  as 
well  as  Catholics,  victims  and  executioners.  Charles,  who  re- 
tired before  eight  o'clock,  kept  Francis,  Count  of  La  Roche- 
foucault,  with  him  for  some  time,  as  if  unwilling  to  part  with 
him.  "  Do  not  go,"  he  said ;  "  it  is  late.  "We  will  sit  and 
talk  all  night."  "  Excuse  me,  Sire,  I  am  tired  and  sleepy." 
"  You  must  stay ;  you  can  sleep  with  my  valets."  But  as 
Charles  was  rather  too  fond  of  rough  practical  jokes,  the  count 
still  declined,  and  went  away,  suspecting  no  evil,  to  pay  his 

*  "  Envoicz  et  portcz  .  .  .  de  fort  grand  matin."  Registres  in  Cimbcr's 
Archives  Curieuses. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  401 

usual  evening  visit  to  the  dowager  Princess  of  Conde.  He 
must  have  remained  some  time  in  her  apartments,  for  it  was 
past  twelve  o'clock  when  he  went  to  bid  Xavarre  good-night. 
As  he  was  leaving  the  palace,  a  man  stopped  him  at  the  foot 
of  the  stairs,  and  whispered  in  his  ear.  When  the  stranger 
left,  La  Rochefoucault  bade  Mergey,  one  of  his  suite,  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  these  particulars,  return  and  tell  Henry 
that  Guise  and  Xevers  were  about  the  city.  During  Mergey's 
brief  absence,  something  more  appears  to  have  been  told  the 
count,  for  he  returned  up  stairs  with  Xancay,  captain  of  the 
guard,  who,  lifting  the  tapestry  which  closed  the  entrance  to 
Xavarre's  antechamber,  looked  for  some  time  at  the  gentle- 
men within,  some  playing  at  cards  or  dice,  others  talking.  At 
last  he  said :  "  Gentlemen,  if  any  of  you  wish  to  retire,  you 
must  do  so  at  once,  for  we  are  going  to  shut  the  gates."  No 
one  moved,  as  it  would  appear,  for  at  Charles's  express  desire, 
it  is  said — which  is  scarcely  probable — these  Huguenot  gen- 
tlemen had  gathered  round  the  King  of  Xavarre  to  protect 
him  against  any  outrage  of  the  Guises.*  In  the  court-yard 
Mergey  found  the  guard  under  arms.  "  M.  Rambouillet,  who 
loved  me  (he  continues)  was  sitting  by.  the  wicket,  and  as  I 
passed  out,  he  took  my  hand,  and  with  a  piteous  look  said : 
'  Adieu,  Mergey ;  adieu,  my  friend.'  Xot  daring  to  say  more, 
as  he  told  me  afterward." 

In  the  apartments  of  the  queen-mother  all  was  not  equally 
calm.  Margaret  had  no  suspicion  of  the  terrible  tragedy  that 
was  preparing.  "The  Huguenots,"  she  writes  in  her  Mem- 
oirs, "  suspected  me  because  I  was  a  Catholic,  and  the  Catho- 
lics doubted  me, because  I  had  married  the  King  of  Xavarre: 
so  that  between  them  both  I  knew  nothing  of  the  coming  en- 
terprise." She  was  sitting  by  her  sister  Claude,  who  appear- 
ed pensive  and  sorrowful,  when  her  mother  ordered  her  to  re- 

*  Reveille-Matin.  Mnrgnrct,  writing  twenty-four  years  after  the  event, 
says  that  Henry,  hy  the  king's  advice,  had  invited  them  to  the  Lonvre,  where 
they  would  be  safer  in  case  of  tumult.  I  give  the  preference  to  her  state- 
ment. 

Cc 


402  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

tire  to  her  own  room.  She  rose,  and  was  about  to  obey,  when 
the  Duchess  of  Lorraine  caught  her  by  the  arm,  exclaiming : 
"  Sister,  for  the  love  of  God,  do  not  leave  us."  Catherine 
sternly  rebuked  the  duchess,  and  bade  her  be  silent;  but 
Claude,  with  true  sisterly  affection,  would  not  let  Margaret 
go.  "  It  is  a  shame,"  she  said, "  to  send  her  to  be  sacrificed, 
for  if  any  thing  is  discovered,  they  [meaning  the  Catholics] 
will  be  sure  to  avenge  themselves  upon  her."  Still  Catherine 
insisted :  "  No  harm  will  befall  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  it 
is  my  pleasure  that  she  retire  to  her  own  apartments,  lest 
her  absence  should  create  suspicion."  Claude  kissed  her  sis- 
ter, and  bade  her  good-night  with  tears  in  her  eyes.  "  I  de- 
parted, alarmed  and  amazed,"  continues  Margaret, "  unable  to 
discover  what  I  had  to  dread."  She  found  her  husband's 
apartments  filled  with  Huguenot  gentlemen.  "  All  night 
long,"  says  Margaret,  "  they  continued  talking  of  the  accident 
that  had  befallen  the  admiral,  declaring  that  they  would  go 
to  the  king  as  soon  as  it  was  light,  and  demand  justice  on  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  and  if  it  were  not  granted,  they  would  take  it 
into  their  own  hands.  ...  I  could  not  sleep  for  fear,"  she 
continues ;  but  when  day-light  came,  and  her  husband  had 
gone  out  with  the  Huguenot  gentlemen  to  the  tennis-court,  to 
wait  for  his  majesty's  rising,  she  fell  off  into  a  sound  slumber. 
Coligny's  hotel  had  been  crowded  all  day  by  visitors  ;  the 
Queen  of  Navarre  had  paid  him  a  visit,  and  most  of  the  gen- 
tlemen in  Paris,  Catholic  as  well  as  Huguenot,  had  gone  to 
express  their  sympathy.  For  the  Frenchman  is  a  gallant  en- 
emy, and  respects  brave  men ;  and  the  foul  attempt  upon  the 
admiral,  -whom  they  had  so  often  encountered  on  the  battle- 
field, was  felt  as  a  personal  injury.  A  council  had  been  held 
that  day,  at  which  the  propriety  of  removing  in  a  body  from 
Paris  and  carrying  the  admiral  with  them,  had  again  been 
discussed.  Navarre  and  Conde  opposed  the  proposition,  and 
it  was  finally  resolved  to  petition  the  king  "  to  order  all  the 
Guisians  out  of  Paris,  because  they  had  too  much  sway  with 
the  people  of  the  town."  One  Bouchavannes,  a  traitor,  was 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  403 

among  them,  greedily  listening  to  every  word,  which  he  re- 
ported to  Anjou,  strengthening  him  in  his  determination  to 
make  a  clean  sweep  that  very  night. 

As  the  evening  came  on,  the  admiral's  visitors  took  their 
leave.  Teligny,  his  son-in-law,  was  the  last  to  quit  his  bed- 
side. To  the  question  whether  the  admiral  would  like  any  of 
them  to  keep  watch  in  his  house  during  the  night,  he  answer- 
ed, says  the  contemporary  biographer,  "  that  it  was  labor  more 
than  needed,  and  gave  them  thanks  with  very  loving  words." 
It  was  after  midnight  when  Teligny  and  Guerchy  departed, 
leaving  Ambrose  Pare  and  Pastor  Merlin  *  with  the  wounded 
man.  There  were  besides  in  the  house  two  of  his  gentlemen, 
Cornaton  (afterward  his  biographer)  and  La  Bonne ;  his 
squire  Yolet,  five  Switzers  belonging  to  the  King  of  Na- 
varre's guard,  and  about  as  many  domestic  servants.  It  was 
the  last  night  on  earth  for  all  except  two  of  that  household. 

*  Mr.  Froude  (x.  397)  writes  Malin,  which  is  probably  a  misprint. 


•iO-i  MASSAGES  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  FESTIVAL  OF  BLOOD. 

[August  and  September,  1572.] 

The  Huguenot  Gentleman  Killed — Midnight  at  the  Louvre — Charles  still 
hesitates — The  Conspirators  at  the  window — The  pistol-shot — Guise  re- 
called too  late — Scene  at  Coligny's  Hotel — The  assault  and  murder — In- 
dignities— Montfau9on — Scene  at  the  Louvre — Queen  Margaret's  alarm 
— Proclamations — Salviati's  letter — List  of  Atrocities — Death  of  Ramus 
and  La  Place — Charles  fires  upon  the  Fugitives — Escape  of  Montgomery, 
Sully,  Duplessis-Mornay,  Caumont — The  Miracle  of  the  White  Thorn — 
Charles  conscience-stricken — Thanksgiving  and  Justification — Execution 
of  Briquemaut  and  Cavaignes — Abjuration  of  Henry  and  Conde'. 

IT  is  strange  that  the  arrangements  in  the  city,  which  must 
have  been  attended  with  no  little  commotion,  did  not  rouse 
the  suspicion  of  the  Huguenots.  Probably,  in  their  blind  con- 
fidence, they  trusted  implicitly  in  the  king's  word  that  these 
movements  of  arms  and  artillery,  these  postings  of  guards  and 
midnight  musters,  were  intended  to  keep  the  Guisian  faction 
in  order.  There  is  a  story  that  some  gentlemen,  aroused  by 
the  measured  tread  of  soldiers  and  the  glare  of  torches — for 
no  lamps  then  lit  up  the  streets  of  Paris — went  out-of-doors 
and  asked  what  it  meant.  Receiving  an  unsatisfactory  reply, 
they  proceeeded  to  the  Louvre,  where  they  found  the  outer 
court  filled  with  armed  men,  who,  seeing  them  without  the 
white  cross  and  the  scarf,  abused  them  as  "  accursed  Hugue- 
nots," whose  turn  would  come  next.  One  of  them,  who  re- 
plied to  this  insolent  threat,  was  immediately  run  through 
with  a  spear.  This,  if  the  incident  be  true,  occurred  about  one 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  24th  August,  the  festival  of  St. 
Bartholomew. 

Shortly  after  midnight  the  queen-mother  rose  and  went  to 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  405 

the  king's  chamber,*  attended  only  by  one  lady,  the  Duchess 
of  Nemours,  whose  thirst  for  revenge  was  to  be  satisfied  at 
last.f  She  found  Charles  pacing  the  room  in  one  of  those  fits 
of  passion  which  he  at  times  assumed  to  conceal  his  infirmity 
of  purpose.  At  one  moment  he  swore  he  would  raise  the  Hu- 
guenots, and  call  them  to  protect  their  sovereign's  life  as  well 
as  their  own.  Then  he  burst  out  into  violent  imprecations 
against  his  brother  Anjou,  who  had  entered  the  room  but  did 
not  dare  say  a  word.  Presently  the  other  conspirators  ar- 
rived :  Guise,  Nevers,  Birague,  De  Retz,  and  Tavannes.  Cath- 
erine alone  ventured  to  interpose,  and  in  a  tone  of  sternness 
well  calculated  to  impress  the  mind  of  her  weak  son,  she  de- 
clared that  there  was  now  no  turning  back :  "  It  is  too  late  to 
retreat,  even  were  it  possible.  We  must  cut  off  the  rotten 
limb,  hurt  it  ever  so  much.  If  you  delay,  you  will  lose  the 
finest  opportunity  God  ever  gave  man  of  getting  rid  of  his  en- 
emies at  a  blow."  And  then,  as  if  struck  with  compassion 
for  the  fate  of  her  victims,  she  repeated  in  a  low  tone— as  if 
talking  to  herself — the  words  of  a  famous  Italian  preacher, 
which  she  had  often  been  heard  to  quote  before  :  "  ~&  la  pieta- 
lor  ser  crudele,  e  la  crudelta  lor  ser  pietosa  "  (Mercy  would  be 
cruel  to  them,  and  cruelty  merciful).  Catherine's  resolution 
again  prevailed  over  the  king's  weakness,  and  the  final  orders 
being  given,  the  Duke  of  Guise  quitted  the  Louvre,  followed 
by  two  companies  of  arquebusiers  and  the  whole  of  Anjou's 
guard. 

As  soon  as  Guise  had  left,  the  chief  criminals — each  afraid 
to  lose  sight  of  the  other,  each  needing  the  presence  of  the 
other  to  keep  his  courage  up — went  to  a  room  adjoining  the 
tennis-court  overlooking  the  Place  Bassecour.J  Of  all  the 

*Favyn  (Hist.  Navarre,  p.  8G7)  says  that  after  supper,  "nbout  eleven 
o'clock,"  the  king  went  down  to  his  forge  with  Navarre,  Conde',  and  others, 
where  they  all  worked  as  usual,  until  between  one  and  two,  when  the  tocsin 
was  rung. 

t  The  Reveille-Matin  and  the  M£m.  jZtat  de  France  say,  "attended  only  by 
a  fille-de-chambre." 

J  "  Ainsi  qtte  le  jour  commen9ait  &  poindre."    Now  as  the  sun  rose  that 


406  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

party,  Charles,  Catherine,  Anjou,  and  De  Retz,  Charles  was 
the  least  guilty  and  the  most  to  be  pitied.  They  went  to  the 
window,  anxiously  listening  for  the  signal  that  the  work  of 
death  had  begun.  Their  consciences,  no  less  than  their  im- 
patience, made  it  impossible  for  them  to  sit  calmly  within  the 
palace.  Anjou's  narrative  continues :  "  While  we  were  pon- 
dering over  the  events  and  the  consequences  of  such  a  mighty 
enterprise,  of  which  (to  tell  the  truth)  we  had  not  thought 
much  until  then,  we  heard  a  pistol-shot.  The  sound  produced 
such  an  effect  upon  all  three  of  us,  that  it  confounded  our 
senses  and  deprived  us  of  judgment.  We  were  smitten  with 
terror  and  apprehension  of  the  great  disorders  about  to  be 
perpetrated."  Catherine,  who  was  a  timid  woman  (adds 
Tavannes),  would  willingly  have  recalled  her  orders,  and  with 
that  intent  hastily  dispatched-**-  gentleman  to  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  expressly  desiring  him  to  return  and  attempt  nothing 
against  the  admiral.*  "  It  is  too  late,"  was  the  answer  brought 
back:  "the  admiral  is  dead" — a  statement  at  variance  with 
other  accounts.  "  Thereupon,"  continues  Anjou, "  we  return- 
ed to  our  former  deliberations,  and  let  things  take  their 
course." 

Between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  noise 
of  horses  and  the  measured  tramp  of  foot-soldiers  broke  the 
silence  of  the  narrow  street  in  which  Coliguy  lay  wounded. 
It  was  the  murderers  seeking  their  victim :  they  were  Henry 
of  Guise  with  his  uncle  the  Duke  of  Aumale,  the  Bastard  of 
Angouleme,  and  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  with  other  foreigners, 
Italian  and  Swiss,  namely,  Fesinghi  (or  Tosinghi)  and  his 
nephew  Antonio,  Captain  Petrucci,  Captain  Studer  of  Wink- 
elbach  with  his  soldiers,  Martin  Koch  of  Freyberg,  Conrad 
Burg,f  Leonard  Grunenfelder  of  Glaris,  and  Carl  D*ianowitz, 

<lay  at  five  o'clock,  this  would  make  it  a  little  after  four,  which  does  not 
harmonize  with  other  statements. 

*  We  must  remember  that  Anjou  is  vindicating  himself,  and  that  his  nar- 
rative, like  the  confession  of  a  criminal,  endeavors  to  extenuate  his  crime. 

t  According  to  Burg,  he,  Koch,  and  Grunefelder  were  the  admiral's  mur- 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  407 

surnamed  Behm  (the  Bohemian?).  There  were  besides  one 
Captain  Attin,  in  the  household  of  Aumale,  and  Sarlabous,  a 
renegade  Huguenot  and  commandant  of  Havre.  It  is  well 
to  record  the  names  even  of  these  obscure  individuals  who 
stained  their  hands  in  the  best  blood  of  France.  De  Cos- 
seins,  too,  was  there  with  his  guard,  some  of  whom  he  posted 
with  their  arquebuses  opposite  the  windows  of  Coligny's  ho- 
tel, that  none  might  escape. 

Presently  there  was  a  loud  knock  at  the  outer  gate :  "  Open 
in  the  king's  name."  La  Bonne,  imagining  it  to  be  a  message 
from  the  Louvre,  hastened  with  the  keys,  withdrew  the  bolt, 
and  was  immediately  butchered  by  the  assassins  who  rushed 
into  the  house.  The  alarmed  domestics  ran  half  awake  to  see 
what  was  the  uproar :  some  were  killed  outright,  others  es- 
caped up  stairs,  closing  the  door  at  the  foot  and  placing  some 
furniture  against  it.  This  feeble  barrier  was  soon  broken 
down,  and  the  Swiss  who  had  attempted  to  resist  were  shot. 
The  tumult  woke  Coligny  from  his  slumbers,  and  divining 
what  it  meant — that  Guise  had  made  an  attack  on  the  house 
— he  was  lifted  from  his  bed,  and  folding  his  robe-de-chambre 
round  him,  sat  down  prepared  to  meet  his  fate.*  Cornaton 
entering  the  room  at  this  moment,  Ambrose  Pare  asked  him 
what  was  the  meaning  of  the  noise.  Turning  to  his  beloved 
master,  he  replied :  "  Sir,  it  is  God  calling  us  to  himself.  They 
have  broken  into  the  house,  and  we  can  do  nothing."  "  I 
have  been  long  prepared  to  die,"  said  the  admiral.  "  But  you 
must  all  flee  for  your  lives,  if  it  be  not  too  late ;  you  can  not 
save  me.  I  commit  my  soul  to  God's  mercy."  They  obeyed 

dercrs ;  he  docs  not  mention  Dianowitz.  "  At  unus  [M.K.]  e  tribus  auda- 
cior  bipenni  (i.  e.,  halberd)  ilium  miscrum  transfixit,  tcrtio  ipse  [C.B.]  cum 
graviter  percussit,  itaque  septimo  tactus  tandem  (mirum  !)  in  caminum  ce- 
cidit"  Letter  of  August  26,  from  Joachim  Opserus,  then  at  the  College  of 
Clermont,  to  the  Abbot  of  St.  Gall.  Archives  de  mist.  Suisse,  Zurich,  ii. 
1827.  The  Neustadt  letter  does  not  corroborate  this  account. 

*  The  Neustadt  letter  says  the  admiral  was  in  bed,  pretending  to  be 
asleep:  "Danach  wider  zu  Beth  gelegt,  und  schlaffendt  angenomen,  dan  er 
woll  gedacht  cs  wurde  ime  ietzo  geltcn."  P.  279. 


•iOS  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

him,  but  only  two  succeeded  in  making  their  way  over  the 
roofs.  Pastor  Merlin  lay  hid  for  three  days  in  a  loft,  where 
he  was  fed  by  a  hen,  who  every  morning  laid  an  egg  within 
his  reach.* 

Pare  and  Coligny  were  left  alone — Coligny  looking  as  calm 
and  collected  as  if  no  danger  impended.  After  a  brief  inter- 
val of  suspense  the  door  was  dashed  open,  and  Cosseins,  wear- 
ing a  corslet  and  brandishing  a  bloody  sword  in  his  hand,  en- 
tered the  room,  followed  by  Behm,  Sarlabous  and  others,  a 
party  of  Anjou's  Swiss  guard,  in  their  tricolored  uniform  of 
black,  white,  and  green,  keeping  in  the  rear.  Expecting  re- 
sistance, the  ruffians  were  for  a  moment  staggered  at  seeing 
only  two  unarmed  men.  But  his  brutal  instincts  rapidly  re- 
gaining the  mastery,  Behm  stepped  forward,  and  pointing  his 
sword  at  Coligny's  breast,  asked :  "  Are  you  not  the  admiral  ?" 
He  replied :  "  I  am ;  but,  young  man,  you  should  respect  my 
grey  hairs,f  and  not  attack  a  wounded  man.  Yet  what  mat- 
ters it  ?  You  can  not  shorten  my  life  except  by  God's  per- 
mission." The  German  soldier,  uttering  a  blasphemous  oath, 
plunged  his  sword  into  the  admiral's  breast. 

Jugulnmque  parans,  immota  tcncbat 
Ora  scncx.J 

Others  in  the  room  struck  him  also,  Behm  repeating  his 
blows  until  the  admiral  fell  on  the  floor.  The  murderer  now 
ran  to  the  window  and  shouted  into  the  court-yard :  "  It  is  all 
over."  Henry  of  Guise,  who  had  been  impatiently  ordering 
his  creatures  to  make  haste,  was  not  satisfied.  "Monsieur 
d'Angouleme  will  not  believe  it  unless  he  sees  him,"  returned 
the  duke.  §  Behm  raised  the  body  from  the  ground,  and 

*A  similar  story — too  well  founded  on  the  traditions  of  Wiirtemberg 
to  admit  of  doubt — is  told  of  the  reformer  Brenz  (Brentius) ;  but  in  his 
case  the  period  during  which  the  hen  supplied  him  with  food  was  eight 
days. 

t  "Tencd  piedadde  la  vejez,"  writes  Olaegui. 

J  Beza  :  Mors  Ciccronis. 

§  Juan  dc  Olaegui  says  that  Guise  "  le  dio  un  pistoletazo  en  la  cabeza," 
and  then  flung  him  from  the  window.  This  is  probably  the  pistol-shot  which 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  409 

dragged  it  to  the  window  to  throw  it  out ;  but  life  was  not 
quite  extinct,  and  the  admiral  placed  his  foot  against  the  wall, 
faintly  resisting  the  attempt.*  "  Is  it  so,  old  fox  ?"  exclaimed 
the  murderer,  who  drew  his  dagger  and  stabbed  him  several 
times.  Then  assisted  by  Sarlabous,  he  threw  the  body  down. 
It  was  hardly  to  be  recognized.  The  Bastard  of  Angouleme 
— the  chevalier  as  he  is  called  in  some  of  the  narratives — 
wiped  the  blood  from  the  face  of  the  corpse.  "  Yes,  it  is  he ; 
I  know  him  well,"  said  Guise,  kicking  the  body  as  he  spoke.f 
"  "Well  done,  my  men,"  he  continued,  "  we  have  made  a  good 
beginning.  Forward — by  the  king's  command."  He  mount- 
ed his  horse  and  rode  out  of  the  court-yard,  followed  by 
Nevers,  who  cynically  exclaimed  as  he  looked  at  the  body : 
Sic  transit  gloria  mundi.  Tosinghi  took  the  chain  of  gold 
—  the  insignia  of  his  office  —  from  the  admiral's  neck,  and 
Pctrucci,  a  gentleman  in  the  train  of  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  cut 
off  the  head  and  carried  it  away  carefully  to  the  Louvre. J  Of 


so  alarmed  the  royal  murderers  at  the  Louvre,  though  another  report  (Alva's 
Bulletin)  says  it  was  fired  at  the  body  as  it  lay  dead  in  the  court-yard.  The 
Neustadt  letter  represents  Coligny  as  struggling  vigorously  against  four 
Swiss  soldiers  (das  irer  vier  kiimmerlich  ime  bezwingcn  mogtcn),  and  that 
a,  French  soldier  killed  him  by  shooting  him  in  the  mouth.  Behm  was  re- 
warded with  the  hand  of  a  natural  daughter  of  Cardinal  Lorraine,  and 
Philip  II.  gave  him  COOO  scudi  (ostensibly  as  a  dowry)  for  his  life.  See 
Pctrucci's  letter  (September  1C,  1572),  in  Aiberi,  Vita  di  Caterina,  p.  149. 
In  1575  he  was  captured  by  the  Huguenots  near  Jarnac,  as  he  was  return- 
ing from  Spain,  and  put  to  death. 

*  Alva's  Bulletin.  Tavannes  says:  "embrasse  la  fenetre;"  Scrranus : 
"brachio  fenestra  columnam  complectitur,  ibi  acceptis  aliquot  vulneribus." 

t  It  is  uncertain  to  whom  the  disgrace  of  this  last  indignity  attaches,  some 
imputing  the  cowardly  act  to  Angouleme.  Alva,  who  was  instructed  by 
Gomicourt,  says  Guise  did  it ;  so  also  the  Journal  <k  Henri  III. :  "Lc  rci 
donna  un  coup  de  pied  .  .  .  ainsi  quo  le  Due  de  Guise  en  avait  donne'  an 
feu  amiral," p.  118.  (Cologne,  1672.) 

J  The  Neustadt  letter  says  it  was  cut  off  for  the  sake  of  the  reward : 
"  damit  noch  2000  Kronen  zu  gcwinnen."  Alva  says :  "  la  mettant  au  bout 
de  son  e"pee,  la  portait  par  la  villc,  criant,  Voilh,  la  tete  d'un  me'chant." 
Bulletin,  p.  563.  He  adds  the  body  was  torn  in  pieces  by  the  mob,  so  that 
"jamais  on  n'en  sut  recouvrer  piece."  At  the  time  Gomicourt  wrote  to 
Alva,  it  was  not  known  what  had  become  of  it. 


410  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

all  who  were  found  in  the  house,  not  one  was  spared,  except 
Ambrose  Pare,  who  was  escorted  in  safety  to  the  palace  by  a 
detachment  of  An j oil's  guard.* 

Thus  died,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age,f  one  of  the  no- 
blest men  of  whom  France,  so  rich  in  great  men,  can  boast. 
His  character  has  been  described  in  his  actions.  In  stature 
he  was  of  middle  height,  of  ruddy  complexion,  and  well  pro- 
portioned. His  countenance  was  serene,  his  voice  soft  and 
pleasant,  but  his  utterance  was  rather  slow.  His  habits  were 
temperate  :  he  drank  but  little  wine,  and  ate  sparingly.  He 
had  been  blessed  with  five  children:  Louisa,  who  married 
Teligny,  and  afterward  William  of  Orange,  ancestor  of  our 
William  III. ;  Francis  and  Odet,  who  escaped  the  massacre  ; 
Charles,  who  fell  a  victim  in  the  general  massacre  ;  his  other 
son  had  died  in  battle.  A  posthumous  daughter  was  born  to 
him,  of  whose  fate  nothing  is  known. 

Le  Laboureur,  a  Catholic  priest,  says  of  Coligny :  "  He 
was  one  of  the  greatest  men  France  ever  produced,  and  I 
venture  to  say  farther,  one  of  the  most  attached  to  his 
country."  The  papal  legate  Santa  Croce  describes  him  as 
"remarkable  for  his  prudence  and  coolness.  His  manners 
were  severe ;  he  always  appeared  serious  and  absorbed  in 
his  meditations.  His  eloquence  was  weighty.  He  Avas  skill- 
ed in  Latin  and  divinity,  and  he  grew  in  people's  love  the 
more  they  knew  his  frankness  and  devotedness  to  his  friends." 
He  never  told  a  lie  (minime  mentiretur) ;  but  then,  adds 
the  legate,  "  he  had  no  pretensions  to  refined  manners, 
and  always  kept  a  straw  in  his  mouth  to  clean  his  teeth 
with."! 

*  Malgaigne,  the  latest  biographer  of  Pare',  does  not  believe  the  tradition 
that  the  great  surgeon  was  specially  saved  from  massacre,  and  denies  that 
he  was  a  Huguenot. 

t  Some  writers  make  him  two  or  three  years  younger. 

J  De  Civilibus  Galilee  dissentionibns,  lib.  2,  Nos.  39  and  52,  apud  Martene, 
Veter.  Script,  torn.  v.  1459.  Jacques  Coppier,  in  a  versified  pamphlet  on 
the  massacre,  called  the  Deluge  des  Huguenots,  calls  the  admiral  "Cc  grand 
Caspar  au  curedent." 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  411 

II  est  mort  toutefois,  non  au  combat  vaincti, 
Non  en  guerre  surprins,  non  par  ruze  de'ceu, 

Non  pour  avoir  trahi  son  roy  oil  sa  province  ; 
Mais  bien  pour  aymer  trop  le  repos  des  Fran9oys, 
Servir  Dieu  purement,  et  reve'rer  ses  loix, 

Et  pour  s'estre  fie  de  la  foy  de  son  Prince.* 

Coligny's  headless  trunk  was  left  for  some  hours  where  it 
fell,  until  it  became  the  sport  of  rabble  children,  who  dragged 
it  all  round  Paris.  They  tried  to  burn  it,  but  did  little  more 
than  scorch  and  blacken  the  remains,  which  were  first  thrown 
into  the  river,  and  then  taken  out  again  "  as  unworthy  to  be 
food  for  fish,"  says  Claude  Haton.  In  accordance  with  the 
old  sentence  of  the  Paris  Parliament,  it  was  dragged  by  the 
hangman  to  the  common  gallows  at  Montfauyon,!  and  there 
hung  up  by  the  heels.J  All  the  court  went  to  gratify  their 
eyes  with  the  sight,  and  Charles,  unconsciously  imitating  the 
language  of  Vitellius,§  said,  as  he  drew  near  the  offensive 
corpse,  "  The  smell  of  a  dead  enemy  is  always  sweet."  ||  The 
body  was  left  hanging  for  a  fortnight,  or  more,  after  which  it 
was  privily  taken  down  by  the  admiral's  cousin,  Marshal 
Montmorency,  and  it  now  rests,  after  many  removals,  in  a  wall 

*  Harleian  MSS.  No.  1625.  In  the  Complainte  et  Reyretz  du  G.  de  C. 
(Paris,  1572)  the  dead  admiral  is  supposed  to  express  his  regret:  "J'ai 
honni  ma  maison  en  trahissant  la  France — Et  ruine  les  miens  par  mon  out- 
recuidancc."  See  also  another  abusive  pamphlet :  Le  JJtscours  sur  la  Mart 
du  G.  de  C.,  Paris. 

t  Coryat  (p.  1C)  describes  it  as  "the  fairest  gallows"  he  ever  saw.  It 
was  on  a  hill,  and  consisted  of  fourteen  pillars  of  freestone,  and  was  "  made 
in  the  time  of  the  Guisian  massacre  to  hang  the  admiral."  In  this  he  is 
wrong ;  other  authorities  reckon  sixteen  pillars  on  a  stone  platform,  tied  to- 
gether by  two  rows  of  beams.  The  bodies  were  left  n  prey  to  beasts  and 
birds ;  and  the  bones  fell  into  fi  charnel  where  the  filth  of  the  streets  was 
shot.  Le  Gibet  deM.  by  Firmin-Maillard,  18mo.  Paris,  18G3;  Des  Ancien- 
nes  fourches  patibulaires  de  M.,  by  M.  de  la  Villegille,  Paris,  1836. 

J  "After  the  massacre  his  body  was  exposed  with  the  eternal  tooth-pick  in 
his  mouth."  Edinb.  J\ei:iew,  cxxiv.  18C6,  p.  369.  This  is  a  mistake,  the  body 
was  headless." 

§  "  Gravcolentiam  scilicet  hostilium  cadaverum,  quibusvis  odoribus  et  pig- 
mentis  essc  sibi  fragrantiorem." 

||  Even  Brantome  is  disgusted  :  he  says  the  smell  is  certainly  not  sweet ; 
"  point  bonne,  et  la  parole  aussi  mauvaise." 


•112  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

among  the  ruins  of  his  hereditary  castle  of  Chatillon-sur- 
Loing.  What  became  of  the  head  no  one  knows.  It  was  in- 
tended to  be  sent  to  Rome  as  a  peace-offering  to  the  pope ; 
but  it  probably  never  got  farther  than  Lyons,  Mandelot,  the 
governor  of  that  city,  having  received  orders  to  stop  the 
messenger  —  one  of  Guise's  servants  —  and  take  it  away. 
What  can  have  been  the  king's  object  ?  Was  he  conscience- 
stricken,  and  did  he  repent  of  the  foul  indignities  offered  to 
the  man  for  whom  he  had  once  professed  such  love?  Or 
was  he  jealous  of  the  credit  Duke  Henry  might  acquire  by 
laying  the  arch-Huguenot's  head  at  the  feet  of  the  holy 
father?  All  that  appears  certain  is  —  that  the  head  never 
reached  Rome.  The  Abbe  Caveyrac  states  that  he  saw 
fragments  of  a  skull  in  a  coffin  at  Chatillon  containing  the 
admiral's  remains ;  but,  accepting  the  abbe's  testimony  as  to 
what  he  saw,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  bones  were  a 
part  of  Coligny's  head. 

When  Guise  left  the  admiral's  corpse  lying  in  the  court- 
yard, he  went  to  the  adjoining  house  in  which  Teligny  lived. 
All  the  inmates  were  killed,  but  he  escaped  by  the  roof. 
Twice  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  twice  he 
was  spared ;  he  perished  at  last  by  the  sword  of  a  man  who 
knew  not  his  amiable  inoffensive  character.*  His  neigh- 
bor La  Rochefoucault  was  perhaps  more  fortunate  in  his  fate. 
He  had  hardly  fallen  asleep,  when  he  was  disturbed  by  the 
noise  in  the  street.  He  heard  shouts  and  the  sound  of  many 
footsteps ;  and  scarcely  awake  and  utterly  unsuspicious,  he 
went  to  his  bedroom  door  at  the  first  summons  in  the  king's 
name.  He  seems  to  have  thought  that  Charles,  indulging 
in  one  of  his  usual  mad  frolics,  had  come  to  punish  him,  as  he 


*  The  Neustadt  letter  says  that  Teligny  offered  to  ransom  his  life  for  1000 
crowns,  which  the  captain  agreed  to  accept  if  Guise  would  permit  him.  "I 
am  a  poor  fellow,  and  1000  will  be  of  great  use  to  me." — "You  are  a 
fool,"  answered  the  duke;  "don't  you  think  the  king  will  reward  you  lie-t- 
ier?" Teligny  and  his  wife  were  poniarded.  Tel'gny's  wife  was?io/  killed  : 
she  afterward  married  William  of  Orange. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  413 

had  punished  others,  like  school-boys.  lie  opened  the  door 
and  fell  dead  across  the  threshold,  pierced  by  a  dozen  weap- 
ons. 

When  the  messenger  returned  from  the  Duke  of  Guise  with 
the  answer  that  it  was  "  too  late,"  Catherine,  fearing  that  such 
disobedience  to  the  royal  commands  might  incense  the  king 
and  awaken  him  to  a  sense  of  ah1  the  horrors  that  were  about 
to  be  perpetrated  in  his  name,  privately  gave  orders  to  antici- 
pate the  hour.*  Instead  of  waiting  until  the  matin-bell  should 
ring  out  from  the  old  clock-tower  of  the  Palace  of  Justice,  she 
directed  the  signal  to  be  given  from  the  nearer  belfry  of  St. 
Germain  1'Auxerrois.f  As  the  harsh  sound  rang  through  the 
air  of  that  warm  summer  night,  J  it  was  caught  up  and  echoed 
from  tower  to  tower,  rousing  all  Paris  from  their  slumbers. 

Immediately  from  every  quarter  of  that  ancient  city  up- 
rose a  tumult  as  of  hell.  The  clanging  bells,  the  crashing 
doors,  the  musket-shots,  the  rush  of  armed  men,  the  shrieks 
of  their  victims,  and  high  over  all  the  yells  of  the  mob,  fiercer 
and  more  pitiless  than  hungry  wolves — made  such  an  uproar 
that  the  stoutest  hearts  shrank  appalled,  and  the  sanest  appear 
to  have  lost  their  reason.  §  Women  unsexed,  men  wanting 
every  thing  but  the  strength  of  the  wild  beast,  children  with- 
out a  single  charm  of  youth  or  innocence,  crowded  the  streets 
where  the  rising  day  still  struggled  with  the  glare  of  a  thou- 
sand torches.  |[  They  smelled  the  odor  of  blood,  and  thirsting 

At  furiis  agitata  novis  reglna  supcrba 
Signa  cani  properat,  venture  nuneia  coedis, 
Ne  regis  mutata  loco  sententia  ccdat. 

Tmyica  Itistoria  de  miseranda  lantena,  by  R.  Fresner,  Emdas,  1583. 
+  The  tower  on  the  Quai  de  1'Horloge,  pointed  out  to  strangers  as  that 
from  which  the  signal  was  given,  is  of  later  date. 

J  "A  las  iij  horas  dc  la  manana."  Olaegui.  Beza's  account  would 
place  it  a  little  later.  "  C'etait  au  point  du  jour."  Mem.  de  VKtat  de  France, 
i.  217. 

§  Jean  de  Gorris,  years  after  his  conversion,  was  so  terrified  at  seeing  his 
litter  surrounded  by  soldiers,  whom  he  imagined  about  to  repeat  the  heresies 
of  the  Saint  Bartholomew,  that  he  was  struck  with  paralysis. 
||  The  sun  rose  at  5h.  6m.  on  August  24. 


414  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  indulge  their  passions  for  once  with  impunity,  committed 
horrors  that  have  become  the  marvel  of  history. 

Within  the  walls  of  the  Louvre,  within  the  hearing  of 
Charles  and  his  mother,  if  not  actually  within  their  sight,  one 
of  the  foulest  scenes  of  this  detestable  tragedy  was  enacted. 
At  day-break,  says  Queen  Margaret  of  Navarre,*  her  husband 
rose  to  go  and  play  at  tennis,  with  a  determination  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  king's  lever,  and  demand  justice  for  the  assault  on 
the  admiral.  He  left  his  apartment,  accompanied  by  the  Hu- 
guenot gentlemen  who  had  kept  watch  around  him  during  the 
night.  At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  he  was  arrested,f  while  the 
gentlemen  with  him  were  disarmed,  apparently  without  any 
attempt  at  resistance.  A  list  of  them  had  been  carefully 
drawn  up,  which  the  Sire  d'O,  quartermaster  of  the  Guards, 
read  out.  As  each  man  answered  to  his  name,  he  stepped 
into  the  court-yard,  where  he  had  to  make  his  way  through  a 
double  line  of  Swiss  mercenaries.  Sword,  spear,  and  halberd 
made  short  work  of  them,  and  two  hundred  J  (according  to 
Davila)  of  the  best  blood  of  France  soon  lay  a  ghastly  pile  be- 
neath the  windows  of  the  palace.  §  Charles  (it  is  said)  looked 
on  coldly  at  the  horrid  deed,||  the  victims  appealing  in  vain  to 

*  There  are  great  difficulties  in  fixing  the  time  of  this  murderous  scene. 
Davila  and  the  Neustadt  letter  (p.  272)  place  it  before  the  ringing  of  the 
tocsin,  that  is  to  say,  before  day-light ;  while  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  Mar- 
garet could  be  mistaken,  or  that  the  murders  were  committed  after  the  toc- 
sin. Probably  it  was  a  little  after  four  o'clock,  as  from  an  experiment 
made  last  24th  August,  it  would  not  have  been  possible  to  distinguish  the 
king's  features  earlier. 

t  The  Neustadt  letter  says  the  night  was  far  advanced  (folgentz  spadt  in 
derNacht)  when  the  king  sent  for  Henry,  after  which  the  Duke  of  Bouillon 
posted  the  soldiers  told  off  to  murder  the  Huguenot  gentlemen. 

%  Margaret  says  thirty  or  forty,  which  is  more  probable. 

§  French  history  has  an  unfortunate  habit  of  repeating  itself  in  its  worst 
characteristics: — "  He  is  at  the  outer  gate,  conducted  into  a  howling  sea  ; 
forth  under  an  arch  of  wild  sabres,  axes,  and  pikes  ;  and  sinks  hewn  asunder. 
And  another  sinks,  and  another,  and  there  forms  a  piled  heap  of  corpses, 
and  the  kennels  were  red."  Carlyle :  French  Revolution  (September  4-G, 
1792),  pt.  3,  bk.  1. 

||  Etat  Je  Fr.  i.  200  I ;  at  ii.  25.  Henry  of  Navarre  is  said  to  have  wit- 
nessed the  murders. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  415 

his  mercy.  Among  the  gentlemen  they  murdered  were  the 
two  who  had  been  boldest  in  their  language  to  the  king  not 
many  hours  before :  Segur,  Baron  of  Pardaillan,  and  Armand 
de  Clermont,  Baron  of  Pilles,  who  with  stentorian  voices  called 
upon  the  king  to  be  true  to  his  word.  De  Pilles  took  off  his 
rich  cloak  and  offered  it  to  some  one  whom  he  recognized : 
"  Here  is  a  present  from  the  hand  of  De  Pilles,  basely  and 
traitorously  murdered."  "I  am  not  the  man  you  take  me 
for,"  said  the  other,  refusing  the  cloak.*  The  Swiss  plun- 
dered their  victims  as  they  fell ;  and  pointing  to  the  heap  of 
half-naked  bodies,  described  them  to  the  spectators  as  the  men 
who  had  conspired  to  kill  the  king  and  all  the  royal  family  in 
their  sleep,  and  make  France  a  republic.f  But  more  disgrace- 
ful even  than  this  massacre  was  the  conduct  of  some  of  the 
ladies  in  Catherine's  train,  of  her  "flying  squadron,"  who, 
later  in  the  day,  inspected  and  laughed  J  at  the  corpses  as  they 
lay  stripped  in  the  court-yard,  being  especially  curious  about 
the  body  of  Soubise,  from  whom  his  wife  had  sought  to  be 
divorced  on  the  ground  of  nullity  of  marriage. 

A  few  gentlemen  succeeded  in  escaping  from  this  slaughter. 
Margaret, "  seeing  it  was  day-light,"  and  imagining  the  danger 
past  of  which  her  sister  had  told  her,  fell  asleep.  But  her 
slumbers  were  soon  rudely  broken.  "  An  hour  later,"  she  con- 
tinues, "  I  was  awoke  by  a  man  knocking  at  the  door  and  call- 
ing, Navarre!  Navarre!  The  nurse,  thinking  it  was  my  hus- 
band, ran  and  opened  it.  It  was  a  gentleman  named  Leran,  § 
who  had  received  a  sword-cut  in  the  elbow  and  a  spear-thrust 
in  the  arm;  four  soldiers  were  pursuing  him,  and  they  all 

*  Dlscours  simple  et  veritable,  p.  36.  Only  two  days  before  this,  Charles 
nnd  De  Pilles  had  bathed  together  in  tbe  Seine,  the  latter  holding  the  king's 
chin  nnd  teaching  bim  how  to  swim.  Brantomc:  Iloin.  III.  x.  p.  193. 

t  De  furoiibus  Gallicis  ;  Reveille-Matin,  etc. 

%  "  Non  sine  magno  et  cff'uso  risu.'1     Scrranus. 

§  Tho  name  of  this  individual  is  not  of  importance ;  but  he  is  called  Lerac 
by  Brantome,  and  Teyran  by  Mongez.  Hist.  Mary,  de  Valois.  He  was 
probably  Gabriel  de  Levia,  Viscount  of  Leran,  the  "  Lciranus"  of  De  Thou, 
and  Lcyran  of  Laval  and  Pigucrre. 


416  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

rushed  into  my  chamber  after  him.  Wishing  to  save  his  life, 
lie  threw  himself  upon  my  bed.  Finding  myself  clasped  in 
his  arms,  I  got  out  on  the  other  side,  he  followed  me,  still 
clinging  to  me.  I  did  not  know  the  man,  and  could  not  tell 
whether  he  came  to  insult  me,  or  whether  the  soldiers  were 
after  him  or  me.  We  both  shouted  out,  being  equally  fright- 
ened. At  last,  by  God's  mercy,  Captain  de  ISTanyay  of  the 
Guards  came  in,  and  seeing  me  in  this  condition,  could  not 
help  laughing,  although  commiserating  me.  Severely  repri- 
manding the  soldiers  for  their  indiscretion,  he  turned  them 
out  of  the  room,  and  granted  me  the  life  of  the  poor  man  who 
still  clung  to  me.  I  made  him  lie  down  and  had  his  wounds 
dressed  in  my  closet,  until  he  was  quite  cured.  While  changing 
my  night-dress,  which  was  all  covered  with  blood,  the  captain 
told  me  what  had- happened,  and  assured  me  that  my  husband 
was  with  the  king  and  quite  unharmed.  He  then  conducted 
me  'to  the  room  of  my  sister  of  Lorraine,  which  I  reached 
more  dead  than  alive.  As  I  entered  the  anteroom,  the  doors 
of  which  were  open,  a  gentleman  named  Bourse,  running  from 
the  soldiers  who  pursued  him,  was  pierced  by  a  halberd  three 
paces 'from  me.  I  fell  almost  fainting  into  Captain  de  Nan- 
9ay's  arms,  imagining  the  same  thrust  had  pierced  us  both. 
Being '  somewhat  recovered,  I  entered  the  little  room  wrhere 
my  sister  slept.  While  there,  M.  de  Miossans,  my  husband's 
first  -  gentleman,  and  Armagnac,  his  first  valet-de-chambre, 
came  and  begged  me  to  save  their  lives.  I  went  and  threw 
myself  at  the  feet  of  the  king  and  the  queen  my  mother  to  ask 
the  favor,  which  at  last  they  granted  me." 

When  Captain  de  Nan9ay  arrived  so  opportunely,  he  was 
leaving 'the  king's  chamber,  whither  he  had  conducted  Henry 
of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde.  The  tumult  and  excite- 
ment had  worked  Charles  up  to  such  a  pitch  of  fury,  that  the 
lives  of  the  princes  were  hardly  safe.  But  they  were  gentle- 
men, and  their  first  words  were  to  reproach  the  king  for  his 
breach  of  faith.  Charles  bade  them  be  silent :  "  Messe  ou 
mort" — Apostatize  or  die.  Henry  demanded  time  to  consider ; 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  417 

while  the  prince  boldly  declared  that  he  would  not  change  his 
religion :  "  With  God's  help  it  is  my  intention  to  remain  firm 
in  my  profession."  Charles,  exasperated  still  more  by  this 
opposition  to  his  will,  angrily  walked  up  and  down  the  room, 
and  swore  that  if  they  did  not  change  in  three  days  he  would 
have  their  heads.  They  were  then  dismissed,  but  kept  close 
prisoners  within  the  palace.* 

The  houses  in  which  the  Huguenots  lodged  having  been 
registered,  were  easily  known.  The  soldiers  burst  into  them, 
killing  all  they  found,  without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  and  if  any 
escaped  to  the  roof  they  were  shot  down  like  pigeons.  Day- 
light served  to  facilitate  a  work  that  was  too  foul  even  for  the 
blackest  midnight.  Restraint  of  every  kind  was  thrown  aside, 
and  while  the  men  were  the  victims  of  bigoted  fury,  the  wom- 
en were  exposed  to  violence  unutterable.  As  if  the  popular 
frenzy  needed  excitement,  Marshal  Tavannes,  the  military  di- 
rector of  this  deed  of  treachery,  rode  through  the  streets  with 
dripping  sword,  shouting :  "  Kill !  kill !  blood-letting  is  as 
good  in  August  as  in  May."f  One  would  charitably  hope 
that  this  was  the  language  of  excitement,  and  that  in  his 
calmer  moods  he  would  have  repented  of  his  share  in  the 
massacre.  But  he  was  consistent  to  the  last.  On  his  death- 
bed, he  made  a  general  confession  of  his  sins,  in  which  he  did 
not  mention  the  day  of  St.  Bartholomew ;  and  when  his  son 
expressed  surprise  at  the  omission,  he  observed :  "  I  look  upon 
that  as  a  meritorious  action,  which  ought  to  atone  for  all  the 
sins  of  my  life." 

The  massacre  soon  exceeded  the  bounds  upon  which  Charles 
and  his  mother  had  calculated.  They  were  willing  enough 
that  the  Huguenots  should  be  murdered,  but  the  murderers 

*  Some  accounts  place  tins  scene  on  tlic  26th,  after  Charles  returned 
from  the  lit  de  justice.  Did  he  threaten  them  twice?  A  similar  threat  is 
recorded  on  September  9,  when  Elizabeth  his  queen  intervened  with  tears. 

t  The  same  figure  is  used  by  the  author  of  the  Jllustre  Orbandole,  ou 
Hist,  de  C/tdlons-sur-Saone.  Lyon,  1672,  b.  1,  pt.  2,  p.  10.  "Une  saignee 
fut  si  sagement  ordonnee  pour  eteindre  la  chaleur  d'unc  fievro  quo  des 
remedcs  plus  doux  n'avait  (sic)  fait  qu'irritcr." 


•118  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

might  not  always  be  able  to  draw  the  line  between  orthodoxy 
and  heresy.  Things  were  fast  getting  beyond  all  control ; 
the  thirst  for  plunder  was  even  keener  than  the  thirst  for 
blood.  And  it  is  certain  that  among  the  many  ignoble  mo- 
tives by  which  Charles  was  induced  to  permit  the  massacre, 
was  the  hope  of  enriching  himself  and  paying  his  debts  out  of 
the  property  of  the  murdered  Huguenots.  Nor  were  Anjou 
and  others  insensible  to  the  charms  of  heretical  property.  Hence 
we  find  the  Provost  of  Paris  remonstrating  with  the  king  about 
"  the  pillaging  of  houses  and  the  murders  in  the  streets  by  the 
guards  and  others  in  the  service  of  his  majesty  and  the 
princes."  Charles,  in  reply,  bade  the  magistrates  "mount 
their  horses,  and  with  all  the  force  of  the  city  put  an  end  to 
such  irregularities,  and  remain  on  watch  day  and  night."  An- 
other proclamation,  countersigned  by  Nevers,  was  issued  about 
five  in  the  afternoon,  commanding  the  people  to  lay  down  the 
arms  which  they  had  taken  up  "  that  day  by  the  king's  orders," 
and  to  leave  the  streets  to  the  soldiers  only — as  if  implying 
that  they  alone  were  to  kill  and  plunder.* 

The  massacre,  commenced  on  Sunday,  was  continued  through 
that  and  the  two  folloAving  days.  Capilupi  tells  us,  with  won- 
derful simplicity,  "  that  it  was  a  holiday,  and  therefore  the 
people  could  more  conveniently  find  leisure  to  kill  and  plun- 
der." It  is  impossible  to  assign  to  each  day  its  task  of  blood  : 
in  all  but  a  few  exceptional  cases,  we  know  merely  that  the 
victims  perished  in  the  general  slaughter.  Writing  in  the 
midst  of  the  carnage,  probably  not  later  than  noon  of  the  24th, 
ihe  nuncio  Salviati  says :  "  The  whole  city  is  in  arms ;  the 
houses  of  the  Huguenots  have  been  forced  with  great  loss  of 
lives,  and  sacked  by  the  populace  with  incredible  avidity. 
Many  a  man  to-night  will  have  his  horses  and  his  carriage,  and 
will  eat  and  drink  off  plate,  who  had  never  dreamt  of  it  in  his 
life  before.  In  order  that  matters  may  not  go  too  far,  and  to 
prevent  the  revolting  disorders  occasioned  by  the  insolence  of 

*  Cimber,  Arch.  Cur.  vii.  217,  Rcgistrcs.  Reveille-Matin,  G4.  Mczernv, 
iii.  p.  258.  Mem.  Etnt  de  France,  i.  2IG. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BAKTHOLOMEW.  419 

the  mob,  a  proclamation  has  just  been  issued,  declaring  that 
there  shall  be  three  hours  in  the  day  during  which  it  shall  be  un- 
lawful  to  rob  and  kill ;  and  the  order  is  observed,  though  not 
universally.  You  can  see  nothing  in  the  streets  but  white  crosses 
in  the  hats  and  caps  of  every  one  you  meet,  which  has  a  fine  ef- 
fect !"  The  nuncio  says  nothing  of  the  streets  encumbered 
with  heaps  of  naked  bleeding  corpses,  nothing  of  the  cart-loads 
of  bodies  conveyed  to  the  Seme,  and  then  flung  into  the  river, 
"  so  that  not  only  were  all  the  waters  in  it  turned  to  blood," 
but  so  many  corpses  grounded  on  the  bank  of  the  little  island 
of  the  Louvre,  that  the  air  became  infected  with  the  smell  of 
corruption.*  The  living,  tied  hand  and  foot,  were  thrown  off 
the  bridges.  One  man — probably  a  rag-gatherer — brought  two 
little  children  in  his  creel,  and  tossed  them  into  the  water  as 
carelessly  as  if  they  had  been  blind  kittens.  An  infant,  as  yet 
unable  to  walk,  had  a  cord  tied  round  its  neck,  and  was  drag- 
ged through  the  streets  by  a  troop  of  children  nine  or  ten 
years  old.  Another  played  with  the  beard  and  smiled  in  the 
face  of  the  man  who  carried  him ;  but  the  innocent  caress  exas- 
perated instead  of  softening  the  ruffian,  who  stabbed  the 
child,  and  with  an  oath  threw  it  into  the  Seine.  Among  the 
earliest  victims  was  the  wife  of  the  king's  plumassier.  The 
murderers  broke  into  her  house  on  the  Notre  Dame  bridge, 
about  four  in  the  morning,  stabbed  her,  and  flung  her  still 
breathing  into  the  river.  She  clung  for  some  time  to  the 
wooden  piles  of  the  bridge,  and  was  killed  at  last  with  stones, 
her  body  remaining  for  four  days  entangled  by  her  long  hair 
among  the  wood-wrork.  The  story  goes  that  her  husband's 
corpse  being  thrown  over  fell  against  hers  and  set  it  free, 
both  floating  away  together  down  the  stream.  Madeleine  Bri- 
§onnet,  widow  of  Theobald  of  Yverni,  disguised  herself  as  a 
woman  of  the  people,  so  that  she  might  save  her  life,  but  was 
betrayed  by  the  fine  petticoat  which  hung  below  her  coarse 
gown.  As  she  would  not  recant,  she  was  allowed  a  few 

*  Comptes  de  I' Hotel-tie -Ville,  Fe'libien,  ii.  1121. 


420  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

moments'  prayer,  and  then  tossed  into  the  water.  Her  son-in- 
law,  the  Marquis  of  Renel,  escaping  in  his  shirt,  was  chased  by 
the  murderers  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  he  succeeded  in 
unfastening  a  boat.  He  would  have  got  away  altogether  but 
for  his  cousin  Bussy  d'Amboise,  who  shot  him  down  with  a 
pistol.*  One  Keny,  who  had  been  stabbed  and  flung  into  the 
Seine,  was  revived  by  the  reaction  of  the  cold  water.  Feeble 
as  he  was  he  swam  to  a  boat  and  clung  to  it,  but  was  quickly 
pursued.  One  hand  was  soon  cut  off  with  a  hatchet,  and  as 
he  still  continued  to  steer  the  boat  down  stream,  he  was 
"  quieted  "  by  a  musket-shot.  One  Puviaut  or  Pluviaut,  who 
met  with  a  similar  fate,  became  the  subject  of  a  ballad. f 

Captain  Moneins  had  been  put'  into  a  safe  hiding-place  by 
his  friend  Fervacques,  who  went  and  begged  the  king  to 
spare  the  life  of  the  fugitive.  Charles  not  only  refused,  but 
ordered  him  to  kill  Moneins  if  he  desired  to  save  his  own  life. 
Fervacques  would  not  stain  his  own  hands,  but  made  his 
friend's  hiding-place  known. 

Brion,  governor  of  the  Marquis  of  Conti,  the  Prince  of 
Conde's  brother,  snatched  the  child  from  his  bed,  and  without 
stopping  to  dress  him,  was  hurrying  away  to  a  place  of  safety, 
when  the  boy  was  torn  from  his  arms,  and  he  himself  mur- 
dered before  the  eyes  of  his  pupil.  We  are  told  that  the  child 
"  cried  and  begged  they  would  save  his  tutor's  life." 

The  houses  on  the  bridge  of  Notre  Dame,  inhabited  prin- 
cipally by  Protestants,  were  witnesses  to  many  a  scene  of  cruel- 
ty. All  the  inmates  of  one  house  were  massacred,  except  a 
little  girl,  who  was  dipped,  stark  naked,  in  the  blood  of  her 
father  and  mother,  and  threatened  to  be  served  like  them  if 
she  turned  Huguenot.  The  Protestant  book -sellers  and 
printers  were  particiilarly  sought  after.  Spire  Niquet  was 
burned  over  a  slow  fire  made  out  of  his  own  books,  and 

*  Bussy  thus   effectually  gained  his   suit  about  the  earldom  of  Rcnel. 
"Herite-t-on,  Seigneur,  de  ceux  qu'on  assassine  ?" 
Comme  Ics  autres  Pluviaut 
A,  faute  de  vin,  bu  dc  1'enn. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  421 

thrown  lifeless,  but  not  dead,  into  the  river.  Oudin  Petit  * 
fell  a  victim  to  the  covetousness  of  his  son-in-law,  who  was  a 
Catholic  book-seller.  Rene  Bianchi,  the  queen's  perfumer,  is 
reported  to  have  killed  with  his  own  hands  a  young  man,  a 
cripple,  who  had  already  displayed  much  skill  in  goldsmith's 
work.  This  is  the  only  man  whose  death  the  king  lamented, 
"  because  of  his  excellent  workmanship,  for  his  shop  was  en- 
tirely stripped."  One  woman  was  betrayed  by  her  own  daugh- 
ter. Another,  whose  twenty-first  pregnancy  was  approaching 
its  term,  was  exposed  to  tortures  unutterable.  Another  preg- 
nant woman  was  drowned,  after  she  had  been  compelled  to 
walk  over  the  face  of  her  husband.  Another  woman,  in  a 
similar  state,  was  shot  as  she  tried  to  escape  by  the  roof  of 
her  house,  and  the  immature  fruit  of  her  womb  was  dashed 
against  the  wall.  Frances  Baillet,  wife  of  the  queen's  gold- 
smith, after  seeing  her  husband  and  her  son  murdered,  leaped 
out  of  the  windoAV,  and  broke  both  her  legs  by  falling  into 
the  court  beneath.  A  neighbor  had  compassion  on  her,  and 
hid  her  in  his  cellar ;  but  being  "  less  brave  than  tender-heart- 
ed," he  was  frightened  by  the  threats  of  the  assassins,  and 
gave  up  the  poor  woman  to  them.  The  brutes  dragged  her 
through  the  streets  by  the  hair,  and  in  order  to  get  easily  at 
her  gold  bracelets,  they  chopped  off  both  her  hands,  and  left 
her  all  bleeding  at  the  door  of  a  cook-shop.  The  cook,  annoy- 
ed by  her  groans,  ran  a  spit  into  her  body  and  left  it  there. 
Some  hours  later,  her  mutilated  remains  were  thrown  into 
the  river,  and  dogs  gnawed  her  hands  which  'had  been  left  in 
the  street.  In  the  list  of  victims  we  find  the  name  of  Gas- 
tine — a  widow,  and  mother  of  two  young  children.  Hers 
had  been  a  life  of  suffering :  her  husband,  father-in-law,  and 
xmcle  had  been  hanged ;  one  relative  banished,  another  sent, 
to  the  galleys,  their  goods  confiscated,  and  their  house  level- 
ed to  the  ground.f 
Few  of  the  Huguenots  attempted  any  resistance,  though 

*  It  is  written  Odct  Petit  in  Duplcssis-Morn.iy's  Memoirs,     f  Supra,  p.  343. 


422  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

many  of  them  were  veteran  soldiers.  Had  they  done  so,  the 
whole  body  might  have  found  time  to  rally.  As  it  was,  they 
were  equally  unable  to  defend  themselves  or  to  fly :  their 
faculties  seemed  benumbed.  Agrippa  d'Aubigne  gives  a 
curious  instance  of  the  panic  felt  by  the  Huguenots.  He 
was  riding  along  the  high-road  several  days  after  the  massa- 
cre, accompanied  by  fourscore  soldiers,  among  whom  were 
some  of  the  most  daring  in  France,  when  a  man  shouted  out : 
"  There  they  are,"  and  immediately  they  galloped  off,  as  fast 
as  their  horses  could  carry  them.  The  next  day  half  of  the 
same  panic-stricken  men  routed  600  Catholics.  In  the  me- 
moirs of  Gamon  we  read  that  the  Huguenots  of  Annonay 
(Ardeche)  were  so  terrified  by  the  massacre,  that  at  the  least 
noise  or  movement  among  the  Catholics  they  would  run  away, 
though  no  one  pursued  them. 

Three  men  only  in  Paris  are  recorded  as  having  fought  for 
their  lives.  Taverny,  a  lieutenant  of  Marechaussee,  stood  a 
regular  siege  in  his  House.  For  eight  or  nine  hours  he  and 
one  servant  kept  the  mob  at  bay,  and  when  his  leaden  bullets 
were  exhausted,  he  used  pellets  of  pitch.*  As  soon  as  these 
were  spent,  he  rushed  out,  and  was  overwhelmed  by  numbers. 
His  wife  was  taken  to  prison;  but  his  invalid  sister  was 
dragged  naked  through  the  streets,  until  death  ended  her  suffer- 
ing and  her  ignominy.  Guerchy  also  struggled  unsuccessful- 
ly for  his  life,  his  only  weapon  being  a  dagger  against  men  pro- 
tected with  cuirasses.  Soubise  also  fought  like  a  hero — one 
against  a  host — and  died  beneath' the  windows  of  the  queen's 
apartments,  among  the  earliest  of  the  victims. 

Jean  Goujon,  the  sculptor,  was  killed  while  at  work. 
Another  victim,  less  widely  known  except  among  scholars, 
was  Peter  Ramus.  He  was  a  man  of  poor  parentage :  his 
grandfather  had  been  a  charcoal-burner,  and  his  father  a 
ploughman.  By  day  he  worked  with  his  hands,  and  studied 
by  night,  rising  by  degrees  to  be  professor  of  philosophy  and 

*  Pasquier,  Lettres,  p.  363.  Some  Englishmen  are  reported  to  have  de- 
fended themselves  successful! v. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  423 

eloquence  at  the  College  of  Presle.*  He  made  many  enemies 
by  attacking  the  authority  of  Aristotle,  and  more  than  once 
had  to  fly  for  his  life.  During  the  horrors  of  the  massacre 
he  had  hidden  himself  in  a  cellar,  where  he  was  discovered 
by  the  assassins  whom  his  rival  Charpentier  had  sent  to  mur- 
der him.  He  was  robbed  of  his  little  wealth,  and  then  thrown 
from  a  window.  Some  of  the  youths  of  the  university, 
urged  by  other  tutors,  dragged  his  body  through  the  streets, 
inflicting  on  it  various  indignities.f  A  surgeon  passing  by 
cut  off  the  head  and  carried  it  away,  while  the  trunk  was 
tossed  into  the  river.  Gilbert  Genebrad,  Archbishop  of  Aix, 
speaking  of  the  "  guilty  victims  "  of  the  St.  Bartholomew,  de- 
clares Ramus  to  have  been  "  justly  punished  for  his  turbu- 
lence and  folly,  which  dared  attack  languages,  arts,  science, 
and  even  theology."  J  Charpentier  exults  over  his  death  as 
"  making  ample  atonement  to  us  or  rather  to  the  republic."  § 
Lambin,  a  rigid  Catholic  and  "  royal  reader,"  was  so  horror- 
stricken  on  being  told  of  the  murder,  that  he  could  not  sur- 
vive it. 

Another  distinguished  victim  was  Pierre  de  la  Place,  presi- 
dent of  the  Court  of  Aids.  He  lived  in  an  isolated  house 
at  the  extreme  border  of  the  Marais,  and  the  first  news  he 
had  of  the  massacre  was  from  one  Captain  Michel,  who  with 
arquebuse  on  his  shoulder,  white  ribbon  on  his  left  arm,  and 
pistol  at  his  belt,  entered  the  library  at  six  in  the  morning 
and  said :  "  M.  de  Guise  has  just  killed  the  admiral  by  the 
king's  order.  All  the  Huguenots,  of  whatever  rank  or  station, 

*  In  a  receipt  for  his  stipend  (penes  auct.^)  dated  1563,  he  is  called  "  Seign- 
eur de  la  Ramce,"  and  a  "  noble  et  scicntifique  personne." 

f  There  is  a  picture  by  Robert  Floury,  exhibited  about  1840,  in  which 
Ramus  is  represented  sitting  up  in  a  bed  on  the  floor,  while  his  servant 
listens  anxiously  at  the  door. 

J  Cfironoyraphia,  p.  776,  fol.  Paris,  1600. 

§  "Nobis  vel  potius  rcip.  satis  poenarum  dedit."  In  the  dedication  of  his 
"Comparison  between  Plato  and  Aristotle,"  published  in  January,  1573, 
Charpentier  compliments  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  on  the  "brilliant  and 
sweet  day  that  shone  over  France  in  the  month  of  August  last."  Dorat 
says  of  Ramus  punningly :  "  Maximum  ramum  maxima  furca  decct." 


424  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

are  destined  to  die.  I  have  come  hither  expressly  to  save 
you  from  this  calamity ;  but  you  must  show  me  what  gold 
and  silver  you  have  in  the  house."  "  Where  do  you  think 
you  are  ?"  returned  La  Place.  "  Have  we  no  longer  a  king  ?" 
Michel  answered  with  an  oath:  "Come  with  me  and  speak 
to  the  king,  that  you  may  know  his  pleasure."  La  Place  did 
not  follow  his  advice,  but  made  his  escape  by  the  back  door ; 
while  Michel,  for  a  consideration  of  1000  crowns,  put  the 
president's  wife  and  children  in  safety  with  a  Catholic  family. 
La  Place  had  not  benefited  by  his  escape ;  he  had  wandered 
up  and  down,  but  could  find  no  asylum ;  all  doors  were  closed 
against  him,  and  he  was  glad  at  last  to  return  home.  His 
wife,  a  lady  adorned  with  every  grace  of  mind  and  person, 
had  returned  before  him,  hoping  to  find  him,  and  resolved 
(now  that  her  children  were  in  safety)  to  stay  at  the  head  of 
her  little  household.  In  the  evening — for  it  was  Sunday — 
the  servants  and  relations  assembled  for  divine  worship. 
After  reading  and  commenting  on  a  chapter  of  Job,  La  Place 
prayed  and  prepared  his  little  congregation  for  the  worst. 
"  Let  us  learn  (he  said)  how  to  conduct  ourselves  firmly  and 
temperately  in  this  condition  of  trial.  Let  us  show  that  God's 
word  has  been  copiously  poured  into  our  souls."  He  had  not 
ended  his  exhortation  when  he  was  told  that  Provost  Senes- 
cay  was  at  the  door  with  archers  sent  to  protect  him  and  es- 
cort him  to  the  Louvre.  He  feared  to  go,  the  danger  was  too 
great,  but  eight  men  were  left  with  him  to  garrison  the  house. 
On  Monday  Senescay  returned  with  express  orders  to  take 
him  to  the  king.  His  wife,  suspecting  treachery,  fell  at  his 
knees  and  prayed  to  accompany  her  husband.  Raising  her 
up,  he  said  cheerfully :  "  My  dear,  we  must  not  have  recourse 
to  the  arm  of  man,  but  to  God  alone."  Seeing  his  son  with 
a  paper  cross  in  his  hat,  which  had  been  put  there  as  a  pre- 
caution, he  added :  "  Take  it  out,  my  child,  take  out  that 
mark  of  sedition ;  the  true  cross  which  you  must  now  wear 
is  the  affliction  which  God  sends  as  a  sure  earnest  of  life  eter- 
nal." The  president  then  took  up  his  cloak,  embraced  his 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  425 

wife,  and  bidding  her  have  the  honor  and  fear  of  God  before 
her  eyes,  departed  in  a  cheerful  humor.  He  was  escorted  by 
twelve  armed  archers,  but  at  the  comer  of  the  street  wTas 
stopped  by  four  men  with  daggers.  The  escort  made  no  re- 
sistance, and  La  Place  fell  to  the  ground,  stabbed  through 
the  heart.*  His  body  was  taken  to  a  stable  at  the  Hotel-de- 
Ville,  whence  it  was  afterward  thrown  into  the  Seine,  and  his 
house  was  pillaged.  He  was  probably  a  victim  of  private 
vengeance,  murdered  by  the  hirelings  of  Stephen  de  Neuilly, 
who  succeeded  to  his  various  charges. 

Mezeray  writes  that  700  or  800  people  had  taken  refuge  in 
the  prisons,  hoping  they  would  be  safe  "  under  the  wings  of 
justice ;"  but  the  officers  selected  for  this  work  had  them 
brought  out  into  the  fitly-named  "  Valley  of  Misery ,"f  and 
there  beat  them  to  death  with  clubs  and  threw  their  bodies 
into  the  river.  J  The  Venetian  embassador  corroborates  this 
story,  adding  that  they  were  murdered  in  batches  of  ten. 
Where  all  were  cruel,  some  few  persons  distinguished  them- 
selves by  especial  ferocity.  A  gold-beater,  named  Crozier,  one 
of  those  prison-murderers,  bared  his  sinewy  arm  and  boasted 
of  having  killed  4000  persons  with  his  own  hands.  §  Another 

*  Claude  Haton  says  he  was  killed  "  more  than  a  week  after  the  declara- 
tion,"as  he  was  riding  to  his  court. 

t  Now  the  Quai  de  la  Me'gisserie,  between  the  Pont  Neuf*  and  the  Pont 
nu  Change. 

J  Jacques  Coppicr  jests  on  the  bodies  "envoyes  k  Rouen  sans  bateau.'' 
Another  writer  thus  plays  on  the  memorable  mot  of  Charles  IX. : 
Cumque  tuse  passim  aubmersa  oadavera  plebia 

Volvat  in  eequoreas  Sequana  tristis  aquas, 
Tu  pisces  illis  vesci,  qui  niandcre  pisces 
Nolnerint,  Roma  pr»cipiente,  refers. 

Illiistr.  aliquot  Germ.  Carm.  lib.  de  immani  laniena.    Vilnse,  1573,  p.  8. 
A  pamphleteer  declares : 

Ma !  vous  serez  inprats,  poissons,  vous  auriez  tort, 
Si  IIP  le»  rocevez,  du  moin?,  aprea  la  inort, 
Pui.-que  tant  ils  vous  ont  donnc  de  courtoisie, 
De  no  vouloir  jamais  vous  manger  en  leur  vie. 

Discours  »ur  les  Guerres  intestines;  par  I.  T.,  Paris,  1572. 

§  Agrippa  d'Anbigne  gives  us  the  sequel  of  this  man's  history.  He  as- 
sumed a  hermit's  frock,  and  murdered  the  passengers  he  lured  to  his  her- 
mitage, "so  unquenchable  was  his  thirst  for  blood."  He  met  his  tardy  reward 
on  the  gibbet. 


426  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

man — for  the  sake  of  human  nature  we  would  fain  hope  him 
to  be  the  same — affirmed  that  unaided  he  had  "dispatched" 
80  Huguenots  in  one  day.  He  would  eat  his  food  with 
hands  dripping  with  gore,  declaring  "  that  it  was  an  honor  to 
him,  because  it  was  the  blood  of  heretics."  On  Tuesday  a 
butcher,  Crozier's  comrade,  boasted  td  the  king  that  he  had 
killed  150  the  night  before.  Coconnas,  one  of  the  mignons 
of  Anjou,  prided  himself  on  having  ransomed  from  the  popu- 
lace as  many  as  thirty  Huguenots,  for  the  pleasure  of  making 
them  abjure  and  then  killing  them  with  his  own  hand,  after  he 
had  "  secured  them  for  hell."  * 

About  seven  o'clock  the  king  was  at  one  of  the  windows  of 
his  palace,  enjoying  the  air  of  that  beautiful  August  morning, 
when  he  was  startled  by  shouts  of  "  Kill !  kill."  They  were 
raised  by  a  body  of  200  Guards,  who  were  firing  with  much 
more  noise  than  execution  at  a  number  of  Huguenots  who 
had  crossed  the  river :  "  to  seek  the  king's  protection,"  says 
one  account:  "to  help  the  king  against  the  Guises,"  says 
another.  Charles,  who  had  just  been  telling  his  mother  that 
"  the  weather  seemed  to  rejoice  at  the  slaughter  of  the  Hu- 
guenots,"f  felt  all  his  savage  instincts  kindle  at  the  sight.  He 
had. hunted  wild  beasts,  now  he  would  hunt  men :  and  calling 
for  an  arquebuse,  he  fired  at  the  fugitives,  who  were  fortunate- 
ly out  of  range.  Some  modern  writers  deny  this  fact,  on  the 
ground  that  the  balcony  from  which  Charles  is  said  to  have 
fired  was  not  built  until  after  1572.  "Were  this  true,  it  would 
only  show  that  tradition  had  misplaced  the  locality.  Bran- 
tomej  expressly  says  the  king  fired  on  the  Huguenots — not 

*.7bwrn.  de  Henri  ITT.,  i.  p.  32  (.anno  1574). 

t  Le  Tocsain,  p.  145  (Ilheims,  1579). 

J  Froude  says  hastily,  that  the  story  rests  only  on  the  "worthless  au- 
thority of  Brantome."  Hist.  Enrjl.  x.  40G.  Now  Brantome  was  a  terrible 
gossip,  but  what  could  induce  him  to  coin  such  a  detestable  story  ?  Smed- 
ley  (I'rot.  Ref.  France,  ii.  367)  also  says,  "  the  f"Ct  is  not  mentioned  by 
D'Aubigne,"  which  a  subsequent  note  will  show  to  be  a  mistake.  Mezeray 
(Abreye,  1CG5)  says:  "Le  roy  ....  tachnit  de  les  canarder;"  Bossuet: 
"Le  roi  qui  les  tirait  paries  fenetres."  The  Reveille-Matin,  published  in  1574, 
mentions  it :  so  that  the  story  was  at  least  contemporaneous. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.      427 

from  a  balcony,  but  "  from  his  bedroom  window."  Marshal 
Tesse  heard  the  story  (according  to  Voltaire)  from  the  man 
who  loaded  the  arquebuse.  Henault,  in  his  "  Abrege  Chro- 
nologique,"  mentions  it  with  a  "  dit-on,"  and  it  is  significant 
that  the  passage  is  suppressed  in  the  Latin  editions.  Simon 
Goulart,  in  his  contemporary  narrative,*  uses  the  same  words 
of  caution.  In  Barbier's  "  Journal"  we  read  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  former  Garde  Meuble  in  the  Rue  des  Poulies  on 
the  quay,  in  which  there  was  a  balcony  whence  the  king  fired. 
Agrippa  d'Aubigne  speaks  in  his  "  Universal  History  "  of  let- 
ters written  by  the  same  hand  "  with  which  he  brought  down 
the  fugitives."!  As  for  the  date  of  the  building,  the  king's 
bed-chamber  in  the  south-west  pavilion  of  the  Louvre  (not  the 
balcony)  was  completed  in  1556,  and  so  far  as  regards  the  pa- 
vilion itself,  it  is  represented  in  the  "  Bastiments  de  France  " 
of  Androuet  de  Cerceau,  published  in  1576.  Now  if  any  one 
will  consider  the  time  it  must  necessarily  have  taken  to  get 
up  such  a  work  as  the  "Bastiments" — a  conscientious  under- 
taking of  great  labor — he  can  not  but  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  pavilion  was  in  existence  four  years  earlier.J  There 
is  no  good  reason,  therefore,  to  regard  this  story  of  the  king's 
ferocity  as  imhistoric. 

Xot  many  of  the  Huguenot  gentlemen  escaped  from  the 
toils  so  skillfully  drawn  around  them  on  that  fatal  Saturday 

*  M>'m.  Etat  de.  France,  i.  1579  (2d  ed.),  212  b. 

t  "  De  laquclle  ce  prince  giltoyait  de  la  fenetre,"  ed.  1626,  p.  548.  In  liis 
poem  of  Les  Tratjiiues  he  refers  to  the  same  report,  using  the  same  charac- 
teristic expression : 

Ce  roy,  non  jn.«te  roy,  mais  juste  Iiarquebusier, 

Oiboyait  aux  paasans  trop  tardif  a  noyer, 

Vantant  sfes  coups  heureux.  Lea  Fers,  p.  241. 

This  paints  the  king  firing  on  the  yet  living  bodies  as  they  floated  down  the 
river.  Agrippa  is  not  an  authority  for  the  fact;  but  it  is  something  to  show 
that  the  report  existed  so  early.  I  am  told  that  a  plate  of  the  time  repre- 
sents this  window  as  walled  up.  If  this  be  true,  why  was  it  closed  ? 

JDu  Cerceau  farther  tells  us  that,  at  the  time  when  the  first  part  of  his 
work  appeared,  the  great  gallery  intended  to  unite  the  Louvre  with  the 
Tuileries  had  been  begun. 


428  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

night :  yet  there  were  a  few.  The  Count  of  Montgomery — 
the  same  who  was  the  innocent  cause  of  the  death  of  Henry 
II. — got  safe  away,  having  been  forewarned  by  a  friend  who 
swam  across  the  river  to  him,*  Guise  set  off  in  hot  pursuit, 
and  would  probably  have  caught  him  up,  had  he  not  been  kept 
waiting  for  the  keys  of  the  city  gate.  Some  sixty  gentlemen 
also,  lodging  near  him  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  were  the 
companions  of  his  flight. 

Sully,  afterward  the  famous  minister  of  Henry  IV.,  had  a 
narrow  escape.  He  was  in  his  twelfth  year,  and  had  gone  to 
Paris  in  the  train  of  Joan  of  Navarre  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
tinuing his  studies.  "  About  three  hours  after  midnight,"  he 
says, "  I  was  awoke  by  the  ringing  of  bells,  and  the  confused 
cries  of  the  populace.  My  governor,  St.  Julian,  with  my  val- 
et-de-chambre,  went  out  to  know  the  cause ;  and  I  never 
heard  of  them  afterward.  They  no  doubt  were  among  the 
first  sacrificed  to  the  public  fury.  I  continued  alone  in  my 
chamber  dressing  myself,  when  in  a  few  moments  my  land- 
lord entered,  pale  and  in  the  utmost  consternation.  He  was 
of ,  the  Reformed  religion,  and  having  learned  what  was  the 
matter,  had  consented  to  go  to  mass  to  save  his  life,  and 
preserve  his  house  from  being  pillaged.  He  came  to  persuade 
me  to  do  the  same,  and  to  take  me  with  him.  I  did  not  think 
proper  to  follow  him,  but  resolved  to  try  if  I  could  gain  the 
College  of  Burgundy,  where  I  had  studied ;  though  the  great 
distance  between  the  house  in  which  I  then  was  and  the  col- 
lege made  the  attempt  very  dangerous.  Having  disguised 
myself  in  a  scholar's  gown,  I  put  a  large  prayer-book  under 
my  arm,  and  went  into  the  street.  I  was  siezed  with  horror 
inexpressible  at  the  sight  of  the  furious  murderers,  running 
from  all  parts,  forcing  open  the  houses,  and  shouting  out : 
Kill,  kill!  Massacre  the  Huguenots!  The  blood  which  I 
saw  shed  before  my  eyes  redoubled  my  terror.  I  fell  into  the 
midst  of  a  body  of  Guards,  who  stopped  and  questioned  me, 
and  were  beginning  to  use  me  ill,  when,  happily  for  me,  the 

*  The  time  was  about  five,  which  gave  him  two  hours'  start  of  Guise. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  429 

book  that  I  carried  was  perceived  and  served  me  for  a  pass- 
port. Twice  after  this  I  fell  into  the  same  danger,  from  which 
I  extricated  myself  with  the  same  good  fortune.  At  last  I 
arrived  at  the  College  of  Burgundy,  where  a  danger  still 
greater  than  any  I  had  yet  met  with  awaited  me.  The  porter 
having  twice  refused  me  entrance,  I  continued  standing  in  the 
midst  of  the  street,  at  the  mercy  of  the  savage  murderers, 
whose  numbers  increased  every  moment,  and  who  were  evi- 
dently seeking  for  their  prey,  when  it  came  into  my  head  to 
ask  for  La  Faye,  the  principal  of  the  college,  a  good  man  by 
whom  I  was  tenderly  beloved.  The  porter,  prevailed  upon  by 
some  small  pieces  of  money  which  I  put  into  his  hand,  admit- 
ted me ;  and  my  friend  carried  me  to  his  apartment,  where 
two  inhuman  priests,  whom  I  heard  mention  Sicilian  Vespers, 
wanted  to  force  me  from  him,  that  they  might  cut  me  in 
pieces,  saying  the  order  was — not  to  spare  even  infants  at  the 
breast.  All  the  good  man  could  do  was  to  conduct  me  pri- 
vately to  a  distant  chamber,  where  he  locked  me  up.  Here  I 
was  confined  three  days,  uncertain  of  my  destiny,  and  saw  no 
one  but  a  servant  of  my  friend's,  who  came  from  time  to  time 
to  bring  me  provisions."  * 

Philip  de  Mornay,  or,  as  he  was  usually  designated,  Duples- 
sis-Mornay,  was  among  those  who  suspected  treachery,  and 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  rejoicings  on  the  marriage  of  Hen- 
ry with  Margaret.  He  got  his  mother  out  of  Paris,  but  not 
seeing  how  he  could  honorably  leave  the  city  himself,  while 
the  chiefs  of  the  Huguenot  cause  remained,  he  resolved  to 
share  the  perils  of  his  leaders.  His  resolution  well-nigh  proved 
fatal  to  him.  He  had  scarcely  time  to  burn  his  papers  and 
hide  between  the  two  roofs  of  the  house  in  which  he  lived. 
On  Monday,  as  the  mob  became  more  furious,  his  host,  a 
conscientious  Catholic,  begged  him  flee,  as  his  continuance 
there  might  prove  the  ruin  of  both,  adding  that  "  he  should 
have  disregarded  his  own  danger,  if  it  could  have  secured  the 
safety  of  the  other."  Duplessis,  therefore,  assumed  a  plain 
*  Memoirs  of  SMj  (transl.),  4to.  London,  1761,  p.  27. 


430  .  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

black  dress,  girded  on  his  sword  and  departed,  while  the  mob 
were  plundering  the  next  house,  whose  owner  they  murdered 
and  threw  out  of  the  window.  He  got  safely  to  his  law-agent, 
by  name  Girard,  who  received  him  favorably  and  set  him  to 
work  in  the  office.  This  place  of  refuge  being  discovered, 
early  next  day  he  had  to  leave  the  house  conducted  by  one  of 
the  clerks.  They  were  stopped  and  questioned  at  the  St.  Denis 
gate,  when  Duplessis  represented  himself  to  be  a  lawyer's  clerk 
going  to  spend  the  holidays  with  his  family  at  Rouen.  They 
were  allowed  to  pass,  but  had  scarcely  reached  Villette,  be- 
tween Paris  and  St.  Denis,  when  farther  progress  was  checked 
by  the  "  carters,  quarrymen,  and  plasterers  of  the  faubourg." 
They  dragged  Duplessis  toward  the  river,  and  he  was  saved 
only  by  the  cool  assurance  of  his  companion,  who  asserted  that 
the  men  were  mistaken,  that  the  other  really  was  a  lawyer's 
clerk  going  to  Rouen,  and  that  he  was  well  known  in  the  en- 
virons of  Paris.  "  Surely,"  interposed  young  Mornay,  "  you 
do  not  want  to  kill  one  man  for  another."  He  referred  them 
to  several  individuals,  among  others  to  Girard,  and  then  they 
all  went  off  to  breakfast.  Just  at  this  moment  the  Rouen 
coach  passed  along ;  the  mob  stopped  it  to  ascertain  if  the 
fugitive  was  known  to  any  of  the  passengers,  and  being  recog- 
nized by  no  one,  they  called  him  a  liar  and  again  threatened 
to  drown  him.  After  being  kept  some  time  in  suspense  he 
was  released,  the  messengers  who  had  been  dispatched  to  Mr. 
Girard  having  returned  with  a  certificate  that "  Philip  Mornay 
his  clerk  was  neither  rebellious  nor  disaffected."  But  all  was 
not  over  yet.  At  Ivry-le-Temple,  w^here  he  passed  the  night 
of  Thursday,  some  persons,  who  probably  suspected  him,  en- 
tered the  room  in  which  he  was  sitting,  observing  to  each 
other  that  they  smelled  a  Huguenot.  On  his  way  to  Buhy,  his 
birthplace,  he  narrowly  escaped  falling  into  the  hands  of  a 
one-eyed  monster  named  Montafie,  who  at  the  head  of  a  band 
of  ruffians  was  scouring  the  French  Vexin.  His  house  he 
found  desolate,  his  family  dispersed  no  one  could  tell  where. 
At  length,  after  undergoing  many  privations  and  more  perils, 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  431 

he  escaped  from  Dieppe  to  England.     It  was  nine  days  after 
the  massacre.* 

Madame  de  Mornay  herself  had  to  undergo  many  dangers. 
Her  cook,  a  Huguenot,  awoke  her  in  the  morning  with  cries 
that  "  they  were  murdering  every  body."  From  her  window, 
which  looked  into  the  Rue  St.  Antoine,  she  saw  an  excited 
restless  crowd  and  several  soldiers  with  white  crosses  in  their 
hats.  Hastily  secreting  some  of  her  valuables,  she  sent  the 
maid  away  with  her  little  girl,  and  at  eight  in  the  morning 
took  shelter  with  one  of  the  king's  household.  More  than 
forty  persons  found  refuge  in  the  same  charitable  asylum ;  the 
owner,  M.  de  Perreuze,  or  his  wife,  standing  occasionally  at 
the  door  to  exchange  a  word  with  Guise,  Nevers,  and  other 
lords,  as  they  passed  to  and  fro  ;  and  also  with  the  "  captains 
of  Paris,"  who  were  sacking  the  adjoining  houses  belonging 
to  Huguenots.  On  Tuesday  the  house  was  searched,  and 
Madame  Duplessis  (or  to  speak  more  correctly,  the  young 
widow  of  M.  de  Feuqueres)  had  to  conceal  herself.  From  her 
hiding-places  he  could  hear  "  the  strange  cries  of  the  men,  wom- 
en, and  children  they  were  murdering  in  the  streets."  Her  next 
refuge  was  in  the  house  of  a  blacksmith,  a  seditious  fellow 
and  the  captain  of  his  ward,  who  had  married  her  waiting-maid. 
"  He  passed  the  night,"  says  the  lady,  "  in  cursing  the  Hu- 
guenots and  seeing  to  the  booty  that  was  brought  in  from  the 
plundered  houses."  After  various  changes  of  refuge,  eleven 
days  after  the  massacre  she  went  on  board  the  passage-boat 
for  Sens,  where  she  was  accused  of  being  a  Huguenot  and  told 
that  she  ought  to  be  drowned.  A  woman  came  up  and  asked 
Avhat  they  were  going  to  do  with  her.  "  Why,  this  is  a  Hu- 
guenot, and  we  intend  to  throw  her  into  the  river."  The 


*  Mem.  el  Corresp.  de  Duplessis- Mornny  (8vo.  Paris,  1824-34),  i.  p.  45.  lie 
escaped  to  Rye,  which,  after  suffering  from  a  severe  pestilence,  had  been 
"replenished  by  the  French,  who  sheltered  themselves  here  from  the  great 
massacre  .  .  .  ;  so  that,  in  1582,  were  found  inhabiting  here  1534  persons 
of  that  nation."  Jcakc  (Sam.):  Charters  of  the  Cinque  Purts  (Lond.  1728), 
p.  108. 


432  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

woman  replied :  "  You  know  me  well ;  I  am  no  Huguenot ;  I 
go  every  day  to  mass ;  but  I  am  so  frightened,  that  I  have  had 
a  fever  this  week  past."  "And  I  too,"  rejoined  one  of  the 
soldiers  :  "  j'en  ai  le  bee  tout  galeux."  This  saved  her  life  ; 
but  she  had  the  horror  of  listening  to  the  rejoicings  of  her 
fellow-passengers  (there  were  two  monks  and  a  priest  among 
them)  over  what  they  had  seen  in  Paris.  Twenty-seven  days 
after  the  massacre  a  body  of  soldiers,  the  Swiss  guard  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  searched  the  village  where  she  lay  hid,  but  did  not 
find  any  Huguenots.  It  was  not  until  the  1st  November 
that  she  got  beyond  all  danger  by  reaching  the  town  of  Sedan. 
In  her  flight,  she  had  gone  near  the  country  seat  of  the  Chan- 
cellor de  1'Hopital.  This,  by  the  king's  express  order,  was 
held  by  a  strong  garrison,  possibly  by  way  of  protection  ;  but 
the  lawless  soldiers  compelled  Madame  de  1'Hopital,  who  had 
been  converted  to  the  new  religion,  to  go  to  mass ;  and  the 
ex-chancellor  assured  the  fugitive  that  if  he  received  her  be- 
neath his  roof,  she  would  have  to  do  the  same.* 

Young  Caumont,  a  boy  about  twelve  years  old,  and  better 
known  in  after  life  as  the  Duke  of  La  Force,  escaped  in  a  sin- 
gular manner.  A  number  of  dead  bodies  had  been  thrown 
upon  him,  those  of  his  father  and  brother  being  among  them. 
He  lay  for  some  hours  beneath  this  horrible  load,  when  the 
marker  from  an  adjoining  tennis-court,  attracted  by  one  of 
his  stockings,  tried  to  pull  it  off.  While  doing  so,  he  uttered 
an  exclamation  of  pity,  which  the  boy  heard.  "  I  am  not 
dead,"  he  whispered ;  "  pray  save  me."  He  was  saved,  but, 
as  the  murderous  ruffians  were  still  in  sight,  he  had  to  remain 
some  time  longer  beneath  the  bloody  heap.  He  was  taken, 
not  without  difficulties,  to  the  arsenal,  where  Marshal  de  Biron, 
as  master  of  the  ordnance,  commanded.  Here  young  Cau- 
mont was  kept  several  days  disguised  as  a  page.  This  was 
told  the  king,  with  the  addition  that  several  other  Huguenots  had 

*  Granvellc,  hearing  that  L'Hopital  and  his  wife  were  murdered,  writes 
cxultingly,  anu  hopes  that  Catherine  will  soon  be  disposed  of.  See  Michc- 
let :  La  Liyue,  p.  475. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  433 

found  refuge  in  the  same  place.  Charles  determined  to  have 
it  searched ;  and  when  the  marshal  heard  of  it,  he  declared 
angrily  "  he  would  take  very  good  care  to  hinder  any  one 
from  entering  who  wanted  to  control  his  actions,"  and  "  there- 
upon pointed  three  or  four  pieces  of  cannon  toward  the  gate 
of  the  arsenal."  * 

The  Duchess  Rene  of  Ferrara,  daughter  of  Louis  XII.,  shel- 
tered many  in  her  hotel,  and  among  them  were  the  wife  and 
child  of  Pastor  Merlin.  Even  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  not  all 
blood-thirsty,  at  least  one  Huguenot  owing  his  life  to  him.f 
Some  were  saved  at  the  house  of  the  English  embassador,  al- 
though a  guard  had  been  set  over  it,  as  much  to  keep  out 
refugees  as  to  protect  the  English  who  had  been  hastily  col- 
lected within  its  walls.|  Two  or  three  are  reported  to  have 
fallen  in  the  massacre,  from  not  receiving  the  warning  early 
enough.  Kirkaldy,  so  famous  in  the  history  of  Mary  Stuart, 
had  a  narrow  escape  for  his  life.  §  Hubert  Languet  was  saved 
by  Jean  de  Morvilliers,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  who  sheltered  him 
in  his  own  house.  Anne  d'Este,  widow  of  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
saved  the  life  of  L'Hopital's  daughter,  for  which  the  father 
thanked  her : 

Vivit  adhuc,  vivitque  tuo  servata  rccenti 
Munere,  dum  tota  cycles  flagraret  in  urbe, 
Praeterea  nee  spes  occurreret  ulla  salutis.  || 

In  the  very  height  of  the  massacre,  the  rumor  of  a  miracle 
revived  the  flagging  zeal  of  the  Parisians.  In  the  ancient 

*  Mem.  autheutlques  de  Jacques  Nompar  de  Caumont:  ed.  by  Marquis  de  la 
Grange,  8vo.  Paris,  1843.  Voltaire  in  his  poetry  adopts  Mezeray's  account, 
that  the  father  and  his  two  sons  lay  in  the  same  bed  ;  that  two  were  killed, 
and  the  third  saved  as  by  a  miracle :  but  in  his  notes  to  the  Henriade  ac- 
cepts the  true  version.  De  Thou  and  Sismondi  also  adopt  the  erroneous 
story. 

t  Mezoray  says  that  he  saved  "more  than  100  Huguenots."  Abrege,  v. 
157. 

J  Burghley  to  Walsingham  in  Dipges,  September  9,  1572. 

§  To  them  of  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  August  25,  at  noon.  AfSS.  Mary 
Q.  of  Scots,  Record  Office. 

||  Ad  Annam  ^Estensem. 

E  E 


434:  MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

cemetery  of  the  Innocents  there  stood  a  small  chapel  dedicated 
to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  in  front  of  it  a  white-thorn  bush 
which  for  four  years  had  shown  neither  leaf  nor  flower.  All 
of  a  sudden,  on  the  morning  of  the  massacre,  it  became  cov- 
ered with  beautiful  white  blossoms,  filling  the  air  with  their 
delicious  perfume.  It  continued  in  bloom  for  a  fortnight, 
and  every  body  went  to  see  it.  The  king  and  his  court  pro- 
ceeded thither  in  long  procession.  Sick  persons  were  healed 
by  merely  looking  at  it ;  and  the  superstitious  crowd,  which 
included  nearly  every  one  in  Paris,  believed  that  it  was  "  a 
sign  from  heaven  of  God's  approval  of  the  Catholic  uprising 
and  the  admiral's  death."  All  the  city  guilds  and  companies, 
all  the  ecclesiastical  fraternities,  marched  out  to  the  cemetery 
with  much  pomp  and  loud  music,  killing  the  Huguenots  they 
found  in  their  road.  The  nuncio  Salviati,  who  had  probably 
formed  one  of  the  royal  procession,  writes  very  incredulously 
to  the  Papal  Secretary  of  State :  "  The  people  ran  to  see  it 
with  such  eagerness,  that  should  any  of  the  priests  who  live 
in  the  convent  dare  say  publicly  that  it  had  blossomed  some 
days  before  the  event,  he  would  be  stoned  and  flung  into  the 
river."  * 

Not  until  the  second  day  does  there  appear  to  have  been 
any  remorse  or  pity  for  the  horrors  inflicted  upon  the  wretch- 
ed Huguenots.  Elizabeth  of  Austria,  the  young  queen  who 
hoped  shortly  to  become  a  mother,  interceded  for  Conde,  and 
so  great  was  her  agitation  and  distress  that  her  "features 
were  quite  disfigured  by  the  tears  she  had  shed  night  and 
day."  And  the  Duke  of  Alen9on,  a  youth  of  by  no  means 
lovable  character,  "  wept  much,"  we  are  told,  "  over  the  fate 
of  those  brave  captains  and  soldiers."  For  this  tenderness  he 

*  Mezeray,  who  half  believes  in  the  miracle,  tries  to  account  for  it  on 
natural  causes:  "On  pourrait  dire  qne  la  cause  qui  avail  excite'  dans  les 
esprits  ce  violent  et  extraordinaire  acces  de  fureur,  etait  aussi  cellc  qui  avait 
e'chauffe  cet  arbre,  soit  qu'elle  proced&t  de  la  terre,  soit  qu'elle  vint  de  quel- 
que  influence  des  nstres."  Abrfye,  iii.  1085.  Favyn  (Hist,  Navarre),  then 
a  boy  six  years  old,  was  taken  to  see  the  thorn.  His  memory  must  have 
been  very  strong  to  retain  the  circumstances  he  records. 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  435 

was  so  bitterly  reproached  by  Charles  and  his  mother,  that  he 
was  forced  to  keep  out  of  their  sight.  Alengon  was  partial  to 
Coligny,  arid  when  there  was  found  among  the  admiral's  pa- 
pers a  report  in  which  he  condemned  the  appanages,  the  grants 
usually  given  by  the  crown  to  the  younger  members  of  the 
royal  family,  Catherine  exultingly  showed  it  to  him:  "See 
what  a  fine  friend  he  was  to  you."  "I  know  not  how  far  he 
may  have  been  my  friend,"  replied  the  duke,  "  but  the  advice 
he  gave  was  very  good."  * 

If  Mezeray  is  to  be  trusted,  Charles  broke  down  on  the 
second  day  of  the  massacre.  Since  Saturday  he  had  been  in 
a  state  of  extraordinary  excitement,  more  like  madness  than 
sanity,  and  at  last  his  mind  gave  way  under  tho  pressure. 
To  his  surgeon  Ambrose  Pare,  who  kept  at  his  side  all  through 
these  dreadful  hours,  he  said :  f  "  I  do  not  know  what  ails  me. 
For  these  two  or  three  days  past,  both  mind  and  body  have 
been  quite  upset.  I  burn  with  fever :  all  around  me  grin  pale 
blood-stained  faces.  Ah !  Ambrose,  if  they  had  but  spared 
the  weak  and  innocent !"  A  change  indeed  had  come  over 
him ;  he  became  more  restless  than  ever,  his  looks  savage,  his 
buffoonery  coarser  and  more  boisterous.  "Ne  mai  poteva 
pigliar  requie,"  says  Sigismond  Cavalli.  Like  Macbeth,  he 
had  murdered  sleep.  "I  saw  the  king  on  my  return  from 
Rochelle,"  says  Brantome,  "  and  found  him  entirely  changed. 
His  features  had  lost  all  the  gentleness  (douceur)  usually  vis- 
ible in  them."J 

"  About  a  week  after  the  massacre,"  says  a  contemporary, 
"  a  number  of  crows  flew  croaking  round,  and  settled  on  the 
Louvre.  The  noise  they  made  drew  every  body  out  to  see 
them,  and  the  superstitious  women  infected  the  king  with 
their  own  timidity.  That  very  night  Charles  had  not  been  in 
bed  two  hours,  when  he  jumped  up  and  called  for  the  King 

*  Renault,  Abrege,  p.  443.  t  Sully,  Mem.  i.  p.  30. 

J  Charles  reminds  us  of  Nero  after  his  mother's  murder :  "  modo  per 
silentium  defixns,  saepius  pavore  exsurgens,  et  mentis  inops  lucem  opperiens 
tanquam  exitium  allaturam."  Tacitus,  Annul,  xiv.  10. 


436  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

of  Navarre,  to  listen  to  a  horrible  tumult  in  the  air:  shrieks, 
groans,  yells,  mingled  with  blasphemous  oaths  and  threats, 
just  as  they  were  heard  on  the  night  of  the  massacre.  The 
sound  returned  for  seven  successive  nights,  precisely  at  the 
same  hour."  *  Juvenal  des  Ursins  tells  the  story  rather  differ-, 
ently.  "On  the  31st  August  I  supped  at  the  Louvre  with 
Madame  de  Fiesque.  As  the  day  was  very  hot,  we  went 
down  into  the  garden  and  sat  in  an  arbor  by  the  river.  Sud- 
denly the  air  was  filled  with  a  horrible  noise  of  tumultuous 
voices  and  groans,  mingled  with  cries  of  rage  and  madness. 
We  could  not  move  for  terror ;  we  turned  pale  and  were  un- 
able to  speak.  The  noise  lasted  for  half  an  hour,  and  was 
heard  by  the  king,  who  was  so  terrified  that  he  could  not 
sleep  the  rest  of  the  night."  As  for  Catherine,  knowing  that 
strong  emotions  would  spoil  her  digestion  and  impair  her 
good  looks,  she  kept  up  her  spirits :  "  For  my  part,"  she  said, 
"  there  are  only  six  of  them  on  my  conscience  ;"f  which  is  a  lie, 
for  when  she  ordered  the  tocsin  to  be  rung,  she  must  have 
foreseen  the  horrors — perhaps  not  all  the  horrors — that  would 
ensue. 

Before  the  bodies  of  their  first  victims  were  cold,  Cather- 
ine and  her  advisers  became  aware  of  the  great  political  blun- 
der they  had  committed.  That  it  was  a  crime  affected  them 
little,  if  at  all ;  but  they  had  perpetrated  an  act  of  treachery 
which  they  would  have  to  justify  in  the  eyes  not  only  of 
France,  but  of  the  civilized  world.  Thousands  shrank  with 
horror  from  the  deed  and  its  perpetrators ;  and  many  even  of 
those  who  applauded  the  end,  could  not  vindicate  the  means.J 

*  Agr.  d'Aubigne  (Hist.  Univ.}  heard  the  story  from  Henry  himself. 

t  De  Statu  Religionis,  iv.  33.  Guise  also  said  "  qu'on  nvnit  fait  plus  qu'il 
ne  voulait  ....  qu'il  n'en  voulait  qu'a  1'amiral."  Melanyes:  Journ.  de 
Leipsic  (June,  1693),  p.  293.  This  is  confirmed  by  a  sort  of  newsletter  from 
Paris,  preserved  in  the  Record  Office  (MSS.  France,  September,  1572.) 
"For  the  admiral's  death  he  was  glad  ;  but  he  thought  for  the  rest  that 
the  king  had  put  such  to  death  as,  if  it  pleased  him,  might  have  done  good 
service." 

t  The  Catholics  condemned  "  non  tanto  il  fatto  quanto  il  modo  o  la  ma- 
nicra  del  fare  ....  chiamano  questa  via  ili  procedere  con  assoluta  potesta, 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  437 

Catherine  and  her  Italians — for  Charles  was  now  the  merest 
puppet  in  their  hands — hastily  made  up  their  minds  to  throw 
upon  the  Duke  of  Guise  the  blame  of  the  attempt  upon  the 
admiral's  life,  and  the  massacre  as  the  result  of  a  riot  between 
•  the  two  parties,  in  which  the  Huguenots  were  the  weakest. 
They  also  represented  that  the  king  himself  was  hardly  safe 
in  the  Louvre.  "  I  am  here  with  my  brother  of  Navarre  and 
my  cousin  of  Conde,  ready  to  share  the  same  fortune  with 
them,"  wrote  Charles.*  On  the  evening  of  the  massacre  a  cir- 
cular note  was  issued,  ascribing  all  the  mischief  to  "  the  pri- 
vate quarrel  which  had  long  existed  between  the  houses  of 
Lorraine  and  Chatillon,"  and  which  the  king  had  vainly  tried 
to  arrange.  It  went  on  to  say  that  the  Edict  of  Pacification 
must  be  observed  as  strictly  as  ever.  On  the  next  day, 
Charles  wrote  to  Schomberg,  "bitterly  deploring  what  had 
happened ;"  while  to  La  Mothe-Fenelon  he  said  that  he  was 
exceedingly  vexed  (infiniment  marry)  at  the  assault  upon  the 
admiral,  and  promised  to  investigate  the  case  and  punish  the 
offender.  On  the  24th  he  wrote  that  the  Guises  had  begun 
the  massacre, "  because  they  had  heard  that  Coligny's  friends 
would  retaliate ;"  and  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  employ 
guards  to  keep  the  Louvre  safe;  and  on  the  27th  he  wrote 
again  to  the  same  effect,  but  with  a  significant  variation  in 
the  phraseology.f 

But  by  this  time  the  massacre  had  assumed  such  enormous 
proportions,  that  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who  had  returned  from 
the  pursuit  of  Montgomery,  refused  to  bear  the  odium  of  it 
alone.  Besides,  the  excuse  was  such  an  acknowledgment  of 
weakness,  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  orthodox  it  elevated  the 
duke  into  the  position  of  the  true  defender  of  the  Church. 


senza  via  di  giudizio,  via  di  tirannide,  attribuendolo  alia  regina  come  Italiana." 
Baschet :  Relazioni,  p.  295. 

*  Corresp.  de  Charles  IX.  et  de  Ufandelot,  p.  39.  Mem  de  VlZtat  de  France, 
f.  215.  Recueilde  Lettres,  etc.,  ed.  by  Merlet. 

t  "  Lasche"  la  main  a  MM.  dc  Guise."  Fenelon  Corresp.  See  also  Revue 
Retrosp.  v.  1834,  p.  358,  Charles  to  Matignon,  August  26. 


438  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  only  way  to  remedy  the  blunder  was  for  Charles  boldly 
to  assume  the  responsibility.  Catherine  dreaded  Henry  of 
Guise  fully  as  much  as  she  had  hated  the  admiral.  The  new 
policy  would  indeed  compel  them  to  tell  another  lie ;  but  ly- 
ing carried  no  disgrace  with  it  at  the  court  of  France.  On 
the  25th  the  king  hinted  something  about  a  conspiracy  to  the 
Spanish  embassador;*  on  the  26th  all  timidity  and  hesitation 
had  disappeared.  Charles,  accompanied  by  his  mother  and 
brothers,  attended  by  a  numerous  crowd  of  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, moved  in  stately  procession  through  the  streets  of  Paris. 
The  populace  welcomed  the  king  with  shouts  of  joy,  and  some 
of  the  more  villainous  of  the  ruffians  pushed  their  way  through 
the  Guards,  and  displaying  their  bloody  weapons  and  ensan- 
guined arms,  boasted  to  him  of  the  numbers  they  had  killed. 
One  Protestant  gentleman  was  hunted  out  and  murdered  be- 
fore his  very  eyes :  "  Would  to  God  he  were  the  last !"  exclaim- 
ed Charles  fiercely.  He  went  to  the  cathedral  Church  of  No- 
tre Dame  to  return,  thanks  to  God,  as  was  his  duty  (says  Cap- 
ilupi)  for  such  a  happy  issue,  that  without  shedding  the  blood 
of  a  single  believer,  the  kingdom  had  been  so  graciously  de- 
livered from  those  pernicious  and  wicked  people.  From  the 
church  he  proceeded  to  the  Palace  of  Justice,  where,  before 
the  foreign  embassadors  and  parliament  assembled  in  the  Gild- 
ed Chamber,  he  declared  that  the  massacre  had  taken  place 
"  by  his  express  orders,  not  from  any  religious  motive,  or  in  con- 
travention of  his  Edicts  of  Pacification,  which  he  still  intend- 
ed to  observe,  but  to  prevent  the  carrying  out  of  a  detestable 
conspiracy,  got  up  by  the  admiral  and  his  followers  against 
the  person  of  the  king,  the  queen-mother,  her  other  sons,  and 
the  King  of  Navarre."  f  The  story  deceived  none  but  the 
most  ignorant  and  fanatical.  Salviati  declared  at  once  that  it 
was  "  false  in  every  respect,"  and  that  a  man  of  the  least 
"  experience  in  worldly  matters  would  be  ashamed  to  believe 

*  "Nous  preservant  de  lours  mains."     Cath.  to  Philip,  August  25.     Si- 
mancas  Papers  (Bibl.  Nat.},  B,  No.  144. 
t  See  the  "  Official  Declaration." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  439 

it."  *     This  is  the  "  third  lie  "  they  were  obliged  to  invent,  says 
Tavannes. 

The  royal  speech  was  afterward  amplified,  and  published  as 
a  manifesto.f  It  accused  the  Huguenots  of  infringing  the 
Edict  in  various  ways,  and  murdering  Catholics ;  of  threaten- 
ing war,  if  their  importunities  were  not  attended  to ;  and  of 
plotting  against  the  king  and  his  mother,  declaring  all  the 
while  that  the  king  was  plotting  against  them.  "  All  these  in- 
ventions were  forged  in  the  admiral's  shop."  He  was  trying 
to  cause  a  rupture  with  Spain  by  giving  succor  to  the  rebels 
in  the  Low  Countries,  when  a  man,  whom  he  had  threatened 
to  hang,  shot  him  as  he  was  leaving  the  palace.  His  majesty 
was  deliberating  how  he  could  execute  prompt  and  exempla- 
ry justice  on  the  author  of  such  a  wicked  deed,  when  the  ad- 
miral resolved  to  avenge  himself  at  one  blow  upon  the  king 
and  the  royal  family,  so  that  he  might  the  easier  make  "him- 
self sole  master  of  the  kingdom.  "  If  my  arm  is  wounded," 
he  said,  "  my  head  is  not ;  J  if  I  must  lose  my  arm,  I  shall  have 
the  heads  of  those  who  caused  the  loss.  They  thought  to  kill 
me,  but  I  shall  be  beforehand  with  them."  When  he  was  told 
that  the  king  was  sorry  for  his  suffering :  "  It  is  all  made  up," 
he  replied ;  "  I  understand  their  tricks.  I  know  how  to  catch 
them  all."  On  Saturday,  after  dinner,  the  admiral  held  a  se- 
cret council  of  his  friends,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to  kill  the 
king  and  all  who  were  opposed  to  their  designs.  §  His  maj- 
esty was  informed  of  this  in  the  evening  by  "some  trust- 
worthy persons,"  and  even  by  some  of  the  conspirators,  who 
would  not  join  in  "so  barbarous  and  enormous  a  crime." 
The  king  thought  he  must  apply  a  "  prompt,  sovereign,  and 
vigorous  remedy  to  so  cruel  a  plot ;"  for  in  matters  where  the 


*  "Ces  grimaces  n'imposerent  &  personne,"  says  Bossuet.  Montluc  dis- 
believed the  story ;  "  Je  sais  bien  ce  quo  j'en  cms." 

t  Discours  sur  les  Causes  de  I 'Execution,  etc.     Rouen,  1572. 

J  In  a  circular  to  the  churches  dispatched  in  his  name  on  the  23d,  Coligny 
really  used  this  phrase,  but  it  was  to  quiet,  not  to  excite  them. 

§  This  was  the  meeting  at  which  Bouchavannes  played  the  spy. 


440  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

lives  of  princes  are  concerned,  punishment  and  "  execution 
must  precede  inquiry :"  in  plain  English,  hang  first  and  try 
afterward.  He  therefore  resolved,  in  council  with  his  mother 
and  others,  "  to  anticipate  the  conspiracy  by  a  prompt  and 
sovereign  execution,"  and  accordingly  gave  orders  that  on 
Sunday  morning  at  day-break  they  should  commence  the  pun- 
ishment by  killing  the  admiral  and  all  his  faction,  which  was 
done  with  such  "felicity, 'diligence,  and  celerity,"  that  by  sev- 
en o'clock  the  admiral,  his  chief  officers,  and  others  were  put 
to  death,  very  few  escaping  with  their  lives.  Hence  the  king 
argued  the  goodness  of  God,  who  kept  the  Huguenots  in  ig- 
norance of  the  design  against  them.  The  people  of  Paris, 
who  are  stanch  Catholics,  and  very  fond  of  their  prince,  re- 
membering their  past  sufferings,  and  exasperated  by  the  sto- 
ry of  the  plot,  "  fell  upon  the  Huguenots,  killed  many,  and 
sacked  their  houses,"  in  their  praiseworthy  desire  to  support 
and  defend  their  prince.  If  a  few  robberies  were  committed, 
"  we  must  excuse  the  fury  of  a  people  impelled  by  honest  zeal 
— a  fury  hard  to  restrain  when  once  aroused."  Such  was  the 
defense  of  the  massacre  put  forward  at  the  time.*  To  us,  who 
know  its  weakness  and  the  falsehood  of  its  chief  point,  it 
seems  contemptible  enough ;  but  to  the  fanatics  of  those  days, 
it  must  have  been  an  appeal  thrilling  every  nerve  in  their  bodies. 
The  obsequious  parliament,  by  the  mouth  of  their  president 
De  Thou,  thanked  the  king  for  his  gracious  communication, 
and  for  the  vigor  he  had  shown  in  crushing  the  conspiracy 
not  only  against  the  throne  but  against  the  Church.  He 
quoted  with  approbation  the  villainous  maxim  of  Louis  XI., 
"  Qui  nescit  dissimulare  nescit  regnare  "  (He  who  knows  not 
how  to  dissemble  knows  not  how  to  reign) :  his  whole  speech 
being  a  cowardly  defense  and  eulogy  of  the  massacre.f  That 

*  Eytzingcr  got  his  information  from  a  pamphlet,  probably  the  royal  jus- 
tification, published  at  Paris,  "cui  lector  tantum  fidei  tribuat  quantum  vo- 
let," which  is  pretty  plain,  considering  he  was  a  Catholic.  Leo  Bcly.  p.  127. 

t  Felibien,  a  Benedictine  monk,  evidently  disapproves  of  the  "discotirs 
sur  Icquel  il  nc  nous  appartient  pas  de  porter  notre  jugcment "  (ii.  1 122). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  441 

the  chief  magistrate  of  France  should  stoop  so  low,  is  one  of 
the  saddest  incidents  of  the  time ;  but  the  French  have  always 
been  too  prone  to  worship  the  fait  accompli,  to  become  the 
servile  flatterers  of  success.  There  can  be  no  hope  for  the 
political  life  of  a  nation,  until  it  learns  to  apply  the  same  rules 
of  morality  to  public  as  to  private  affairs.  At  that  moment 
Charles  was  nobler  than  De  Thou.*  There  is  something  in 
great  crimes  which  fascinates  and  attracts.  The  king  had 
struck  a  desperate  blow,  which,  had  it  failed,  might  have  cost 
him  his  throne  and  perhaps  his  life.  The  first  president 
of  the  Parliament  of  Paris  ostentatiously  defended  and  ex- 
tolled in  public  a  deed  which  he  condemned  in  private.  His 
son  tells  us  that  in  his  copy  of  Statius  he  marked  the  follow- 
ing lines,  giving  them  a  significance  of  which  the  poet  never 
dreamed : 

Excidat  ilia  dies  aevo,  ncc  postera  credant 
Siecula !  nos  certe  taceamus ;  ct  obruta  multa 
Noctc  tegi  propriffi  patiamur  crimina  gentis.f 

At  the  suggestion  of  Pibrac  the  king's  words  were  entered 
in  the  register  of  minutes ;  and  then  the  same  man,  braver 
and  more  humane  than  his  fellows,  prayed  that  Charles  would 
order  the  massacre  to  cease.  The  king  seems  immediately  to 
have  issued  the  necessary  dir/ections,  that  no  one  should  from 
that  hour  presume  to  kill  or  plunder  a  fellow-citizen  under 
pain  of  death.  But  another  advocate  of  the  same  court,  by 
name  Morvilliers,J  had  the  baseness  to  propose  that  Coligny 
should  be  tried  and  attainted  for  the  plot  he  had  contrived 
against  the  king.  At  the  same  time  the  castle  of  Chatillon 
was  ordered  to  be  razed  to  the  ground,  one  tower  alone  re- 
maining of  that  princely  mansion. 

Although  nothing  had  been  found  in  the  admiral's  papers 

*  It  is  said  in  the  Mem.  de  tEtat  de  France,  that  one  Ronillard  was  killed 
"  at  the  instigation  of  the  first  president,"  a  statement  we  gladly  believe 
unfounded. 

t  Statius :  Silv.  v.  2, 1.  88. 

J  Others  call  him  Bishop  of  Orleans. 


442  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

to  justify  the  charge  of  conspiring  against  the  throne,  there 
were  two  prisoners  in  custody  who,  it  was  hoped,  might  be 
induced  to  save  their  lives  by  confessing  the  existence  of  a 
plot.  They  were  Briquemaut  and  Cavaignes,  with  whose  ju- 
dicial execution  the  horrors  of  the  massacre  may  be  consider- 
ed to  have  terminated.  Colonel  Briquemaut,  who  was  up- 
ward of  seventy  years  old  (he  had  served  in  the  Italian  wars 
of  Francis  I.),  had  saved  himself  in  the  night  of  the  24th  by 
stripping  and  Gliding  under  a  pile  of  dead  bodies,  from  which 
horrible  shelter  he  made  his  escape  to  the  house  of  the  English 
embassador,  where  he  was  discovered  in  the  disguise  of  a 
groom.*  Cavaignes,  "  chancellor  of  the  cause,"  had  recently 
been  appointed  Master  of  Requests  at  the  admiral's  petition. 
A  few  days  before  the  massacre,  Charles  had  begged  him  not 
to  leave  the  court,  as  he  required  his  advice  to  perpetuate  the 
happy  peace  which  he  (Cavaignes)  had  helped  to  negotiate. 
A  special  commission  was  appointed  to  try  the  prisoners,  but 
their  innocence  was  so  manifest  that  the  judges  ordered  their 
discharge.  This  decision  was  appealed  against,  and  after 
another  trial  they  were  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  die. 
It  was  hoped  they  would  confess.  Tavannes  asserts  that  they 
were  promised  life  and  liberty  if  they  would  only  say  what 
they  were  asked;  but  they  refused;  and  Walsingham  thus 
describes  the  closing  scene  of  their  life :  "  On  October  22, 
the  young  queen  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  daughter ;  and  the 
same  day,  between  five  and  six  in  the  evening,  Briquemaut 
and  Cavaignes  were  hanged  by  torch-light,  the  king,  the  queen- 
mother,  and  the  King  of  Navarre,  with  the  king's  brothers 
and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  being  lookers-on.  As  Briquemaut 
was  going  up  the  ladder,  the  under-provost  of  the  town  said 
that  the  king  had  sent  him  to  know  whether  he  could  say  any 
thing  touching  the  late  conjuration,  which,  if  he  would  confess, 

*  An  nccouut  of  this  violation  of  asylum  must  have  hecn  reported  by 
Walsingham,  but  I  have  sought  for  it  in  vain.  Sir  Philip  Sydney  was  then 
in  Paris :  Charles  had  appointed  him  one  of  his  gentlemen  of  the  bed- 
chamber only  a  few  days  before. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  443 

he  should  save  his  life.  He  answered,  that  the  king  had  never 
a  more  faithful  subject  than  he  was ;  but  this  I  know  proceed- 
ed not  of  himself,  but  of  evil  councilors  about  him ;  and  so 
lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  said, '  Oh  my  God,  upon 
whose  tribunal  seat  I  stand,  and  whose  face  I  hope  shortly  to 
see,  thou  knowest  well  that  I  know  nothing  nor  did  not  so 
much  as  ever  think  of  any  conjuration  against  the  king  nor 
against  his  estate ;  though  contrariwise  they  have  entirely  put 
the  same  in  my  process ;  but  I  beseech  my  God  that  he  will 
pardon  the  king  and  all  those  that  have  been  the  cause  of  this 
my  unjust  death,  even  as  I  desire  pardon  at  thy  hands  for  my 
sins  and  offenses  committed  against  thy  divine  majesty.' 
Being  then  drawn  up  another  step  on  the  ladder,  he  uttered 
only  these  words:  'I  have  somewhat  to  utter  unto  the  king, 
which  I  would  be  glad  to  communicate  unto  him,  but  see  that 
I  may  not.'  And  so  shrunk  up  his  shoulders  to  forbear  to 
use  any  farther  speech.  As  his  constancy  was  much  com- 
mended, so  was  his  death  much  bewailed  of  many  Catholics 
that  were  beholders  of  the  same.  Cavaignes  used  no  speech, 
but  showed  himself  void  of  all  magnanimity,  who  before  his 
death,  in  hope  of  life,  made  some  show  to  relent  in  religion. 
Two  things  were  generally  much  misliked  at  this  execution : 
the  one  the  presence  of  the  king,  as  a  thing  unworthy  of  the 
head  of  justice  to  be  at  the  execution  of  justice ;  the  other 
that  Briquemaut,  being  a  gentleman,  was  hanged,  a  thing  very 
rare  in  France,  especially  he  being  reputed  by  his  enemies  to 
be  innocent."  Charles's  presence  at  the  execution  added  a 
new  horror  to  the  pangs  of  death :  "  Nero  tamen  subtraxit 
oculos  jiissitque  scelera,  non  spectavit :  pracipua  sub  Domi- 
tiano  miseriarum  erat,  videre  et  aspici."  * 

"Walsingham  continues  his  narrative :  "  About  an  hour  aft- 
er the  execution,  the  cruel  and  bloody  people  of  this  town,  not 
content  with  their  death,  took  [their  bodies]  down  from  the 


*  Tacitus:  Agricola.       Chcisnin  in  his  Memoires  describes  the  king  and 
Anjou  as  "marris  de  ce  que  les  executeurs  n'etaient  asscz  cruels." 


444  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

gallows,  and  drew  them  about  the  streets,  thrusting  them 
through  with  daggers  and  shooting  of  dags  [pistols]  at  them, 
cutting  off  their  ears,  and  omitting  no  other  kind  of  villainous 
and  barbarous  cruelty."  There  were  others  to  be  executed, 
but  the  queen-mother  "  with  no  small  difficulty,"  persuaded 
her  son  to  respite  them  for  awhile.  "  The  king  is  now  grown 
so  blooody-minded,"  concludes  Walsingham,  "  that  they  who 
advised  him  thereto  do  repent  the  same,  and  do  fear  that  the 
old  saying  will  prove  true — maluni  consilium  consultori  pes- 
simum"  *  After  this  we  can  well  believe  the  story  that 
Charles  ordered  torches  to  be  held  near  the  faces  of  his  two 
victims,  that  he  might  the  clearer  see  their  dying  agonies. 
When  the  cruel  tragedy  on  the  Greve  was  over,  the  royal 
spectators,  including  Henry  of  Navarre,  retired  to  a  magnifi- 
cent supper  provided  for  them  at  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  at  the 
windows  of  which  they  had  been  sitting,  f 

About  a  month  after  the  massacre,  Henry  of  Navarre  and 
the  Prince  of  Conde  both  abjured.  The  instrument  of  their 
conversion  to  orthodoxy  was  Sureau  du  Rozier,  at  one  tune 
minister  at  Orleans,  and  the  fanatic  apologist  of  Poltrot's 
crime ;  but  yielding  to  temptation,  and  partly  also  to  fear,  he 
abjured  Protestantism,  and,  like  all  new  converts,  was  eager  to 
show  his  zeal  by  converting  his  late  brethren.  The  two 
princes  listened  to  his  arguments,  and  professed  themselves 
convinced ;  but  they  only  temporized  with  a  king  who  was  ca- 
pable, in  one  of  his  mad  bursts  of  passion,  of  ordering  them  to 
execution.  At  the  beginning  of  October  the  princes  wrote  to 
the  pope,  expressing  sorrow  for  their  past  errors  and  promis- 
ing to  be  faithful  sons  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  future. 
The  pope  graciously  accepted  their  recantations,  and  returned 
them  the  necessary  dispensations  for  their  marriages. J  Henry 

*  Walsingham  to  Smith,  November  1.  1572.     Digges,  p.  278. 

t  The  cost  of  this  banquet  is  given  by  Sauval,  iii.  368. 

J  The  Bull  (6  Kal.  November,  1572)  was  never  registered  in  Parliament. 
I  may  add  that  Sureau,  unable  to  stifle  his  conscience,  fled  to  Germany,  re- 
canted, nnd  died  neglected  by  all. 


MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  445 

went  farther  than  was  necessary  to  show  his  new  zeal,  by  abol- 
ishing the  Reformed  religion  in  his  maternal  states.  "M. 
Grammont  hath  commission  from  the  king,"  writes  Walsing- 
ham,  "  to  suppress  all  preaching  in  Beam,  and  to  plant  there 
the  Catholic  religion,  which  is  a  verification  of  the  king's 
[Charles]  intention  touching  the  observation  of  his  edict  ir- 
revocable for  the  toleration  of  religion."  *  But  the  Bearnese 
stoutly  refused  to  act  upon  the  order,  on  the  ground  that  the 
king  was  a  prisoner  in  Paris  and  under  constraint. 

*  Digges,  p.  267.  Letter  to  Smith,  October  8.  On  September  7  he  had 
written,  "that  there  is  a  compact  to  destroy  all  persons  that  be  of  the  re- 
ligion." Archwologia,  xxii.  1829,  p.  325. 


446  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
MASSACRE  IN  THE  PROVINCES. 

[August  to  October,  1572.] 

Instructions  to  the  Governors — The  Count  of  Tende — Nantes  and  Alen9on 
— Massacres  at  Saumur,  Angers,  Lyons,  Orleans,  Troyes,  Kouen,  Meaux, 
Bordeaux,  and  Toulouse — St.  Herem's  letter — The  stolen  Dispatch — The 
Governor  of  Bayonne — The  Bishop  of  Lisieux — Chabot  at  Arnay-le-Duc 
— Senlis,  Provins,  Chateau-Thierry,  Dieppe,  and  Nismes  spared — The 
Number  of  Victims — Contemporary  Judgments — Dorat's  Panegyric — 
JeanLe  Masle — Pierre  Charpentier  and  Sorbin — Rejoicings  at  Rome — Ex- 
ultation of  Philip  II. — Horror  in  England — John  Knox's  Denunciation — 
The  Emperor  Maximilian's  regret. 

THE  writers  who  maintain  that  the  tragedy  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's Day  was  the  result  of  long  premeditation,  support  their 
opinions  by  what  occurred  in  the  provinces ;  but  it  will  be 
found  after  careful  examination,  that  these  various  incidents 
tend  rather  to  prove  the  absence  of  any  such  premeditation. 
Unless  we  suppose  Catherine  and  her  Italian  advisers  to  have 
been  the  clumsiest  of  conspirators,  they  would  naturally  have 
made  arrangements  for  a  general  massacre  of  the  Huguenots 
throughout  the  kingdom  to  take  place  on  the  same  day ;  but 
it  did  not,  and  the  murders  committed  were  in  many  instances 
the  consequences  of  popular  commotions  that  broke  out  after 
the  arrival  of  the  news  from  Paris.  *  There  is  indeed  a  well- 
known  letter  from  the  queen-mother  to  Strozzi,f  which  he 
was  not  to  open  until  the  24th  of  August,  and  in  which  he 

*  See  Martyrologue,  respecting  Orleans,  p.  712  recto;  respecting  Bourges, 
724  recto;  respecting  Bordeaux,  " il n'entendait  pas  que  cette  execution 
passat  outre  et  s'etendit  plus  avant  que  Paris,"  p.  730  recto. 

1 1*  is  given  in  Olagharray,  p.  628,  and  the  Reveille-Matin. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  447 

read  :  "  This  is  to  inform  you  that  to-day  the  admiral  and  all 
the  Huguenots  in  this  place  are  killed."  But  the  letter  is 
manifestly  spurious,  and  with  it  falls  the  principal  item  of  evi- 
dence to  show  premeditation. 

It  would  appear  that  on  the  23d,  as  soon  as  the  king's  as- 
sent had  been  gained,  instructions  to  massacre  the  Protest- 
ants were  forwarded  to  various  parts  of  the  country.  Alberi  * 
emphatically  says  that  there  remain  no  traces  in  any  provincial 
registers  of  orders  received  to  this  effect ;  but  even  were  there 
no  such  record,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  such  instruc- 
tions were  sent.  Davila  says  that  messengers  were  dispatched 
on  the  23d.  De  Thou,  who  was  in  a  position  to  know  the 
truth,  declares  that  verbal  orders  were  sent ;  f  which  is  con- 
firmed by  a  letter  to  the  governor  of  Chartres  withdrawing 
all  verbal  orders.^  There  is  also  a  letter  from  Charles  to  Ma- 
tignon,  canceling  all  the  orders  he  may  have  given  by  word 
of  mouth.  §  Writing  to  Longueville  on  the  26th  of  August, 
he  recalls  "  le  mandement  verbal;"  ||  and  the  next  day  he  re- 
minds the  mayor  of  Troyes  of  the  "  letters  he  had  received  " 
ordering  the  extermination  of  the  heretics.  Puygaillard,  writ- 
ing in  the  king's  name  (August  26)  to  the  governor  of  Angers, 
to  put  the  principal  Huguenots  to  death,  bids  him  wait  for  no 
farther  orders,  as  he  will  have  none.  It  is  clear,  therefore, 
that  Charles  desired  to  act  up  to  his  resolution,  to  permit  no 
Huguenot  to  survive  to  reproach  him  with  his  breach  of  faith. 
That  his  orders  were  not  carried  out,  depended  in  many  cases 
upon  the  character  of  the  governors  or  municipalities  to  whom 
they  were  addressed.  A  messenger,  named  La  Molle,  was  sent 
to  the  Count  of  Tende,  governor  of  Provence,  with  a  letter  or- 
dering him  to  massacre  all  the  Huguenots.  A  postscript,  how- 
ever, bade  him  neither  do  nor  believe  what  La  Molle  told  him. 
The  count,  unable  to  reconcile  these  contradictory  instructions, 
sent  his  secretary  to  the  king1,  who  told  him  to  "  put  a  few 

*  Vita  di  C.  de'  Medici,  p.  155.  t  Tom.  vi.  lib.  52,  p.  421. 

%  Paris :  Cabinet  Hist.  ii.  258.  §  Raumer,  i.  282. 

||  Revue  retrospect,  v.  (1834)  p.  359. 


448  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Huguenots  to  death."  But  Tende  dying  in  the  interval,  his 
successor,  the  Count  of  Courcis,  refused  to  act  without  far- 
ther instructions,  and  the  result  was  an  order,  which  the  mes- 
senger was  directed  on  peril  of  his  life  to  communicate  to 
none  but  De  Courcis,  "  not  to  execute  the  massacre."  * 

Louis,  Duke  of  Bourbon-Montpensier,  governor  of  Brittany, 
wrote  to  the  municipal  officers  of  Nantes,  desiring  them  to 
carry  out  the  massacre.  They  refused,  and  their  refusal  is 
commemorated  in  the  following  inscription  : 

"  Han  MDLXXII,  le  8  jour  de  septembre,  le  Maire  de 
Nantes,  les  echevins,  et  les  suppots  de  la  mile,  avec  les  j'uges- 
consuls,  reunis  d  la  Maison  Commune,  font  le  serment  de 
maintenir  celui  precedemment  fait  de  ne  point  contrevenir 
d  Vtldit  de  Pacification  rendu  en  faveur  des  Calvinistes, 
etfont  defense  aux  habitants  de  se  porter  d  aucun  exces  con- 
tre  eux" 

At  Alen9on  there  was  no  massacre,  owing  to  the  energy  of 
the  governor,  who,  observing  that  the  Catholics  were  arming 
with  a  murderous  intent,  closed  the  city  gates,  strengthened 
the  posts,  and  issued  a  severe  proclamation,  forbidding  any  in- 
jury to  the  Huguenots.  The  latter  were  ordered  to  assemble, 
to  give  up  their  arms,  to  send  in  thirty-two  hostages,  and 
to  take  a  new  oath  of  fidelity.  This  they  did,  and  all  were 
spared.  Matignon's  name  was  long  revered  as  a  household 
word  among  the  people  of  Alen9on.f 

At  Angers  the  massacre  had  some  distinct  characteristics. 
After  Montsoreau,  the  governor  of  Saumur,  had  killed  all  the 
Huguenots  in  that  town  according  to  the  instructions  from  an 
agent  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  he  hastened  to  Angers  (29th 
August),  which  he  reached  at  day-break.  Ordering  the  gates 
to  be  shut,  he  went  to  the  house  of  La  Barbee,  a  Huguenot 

*  Raumer:  Hist.  16th  and  17th  Cent.,  Letter  31. 

t  When  the  Duke  of  Alei^on  revolted  against  Henry  III.,  and  the  city 
rose  in  arms,  Matignon  was  sent  to  reduce  it,  and  as  soon  as  the  Protestants 
saw  his  banners,  they  opened  the  gates  to  him.  Odolant  Desnos :  Mem. 
Hist.  (fAlenyon,  ii.  p.  285  (8ro.  Alen9on,  1787). 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  449 

gentleman,  who  escaped,  but  his  less  fortunate  brother  was 
killed  as  he  lay  sick  in  bed.  Montsoreau  next  called  on  the 
pastor  La  Riviere,  with  whom  he  had  long  been  on  friendly 
terms.  Courteously  saluting  his  wife,  Montsoreau  passed  into 
the  garden  to  her  husband.  After  the  usual  embrace,  he 
said :  "I  have  the  king's  orders  to  put  you  to  death  instantly." 
The  minister  asked  for  a  few  moments'  delay  to  collect  his 
thoughts  and  to  pray,  which  being  granted,  he  commended 
his  soul  to  God  and  fell  pierced  through  the  heart.  Mont- 
soreau then  went  and  killed  two  other  ministers.  Meanwhile 
the  news  spread,  and  some  Catholics  assembled  in  the  streets, 
with  the  white  cross  in  their  hats.  Montsoreaw's  words 
aroused  their  fanaticism :  they  dragged  the  dead  bodies  to 
the  river,  rang  the  alarm-bell,  and  chased  the  Huguenots 
from  house  to  house.  But  the  citizens  held  aloof,  the  magis- 
trates interposed,  and  the  massacre  was  stopped.*  Later  in 
the  day  a  messenger  arrived  from  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  order- 
ing the  property  of  heretics  to  be  set  aside,  it  being  valued  at 
100,000  livres.  The  highway  robbers  of  those  days  gave 
their  victims  the  alternative  of  money  or  life :  the  duke  took 
both. 

A  week  after  the  massacre  in  Paris,  the  Huguenots  of 
Lyons  were  taken  one  after  another  "  like  sheep,"  says  Capi- 
lupi,  and  shut  up  in  prison.  When  the  governor  desired  the 
executioner  to  put  some  of  them  to  death,  he  replied :  "  I  am 
not  an  assassin  :  I  work  only  as  justice  commands  me."  But 
this  did  not  save  them.  Three  hundred  soldiers  were  found 
ready  to  do  the  bloody  work.  Those  confined  in  the  arch- 
bishop's palace  were  first  robbed,  and  then  cut  to  pieces,  chil- 
dren hanging  round  their  parents'  necks,  brothers  and  sisters 
exhorting  one  another  to  suffer  patiently  in  the  cause  of  God. 
All  who  had  been  shut  up  in  the  Rouane,  a  public  prison, 
were  dragged  to  the  bridge  and  then  flung  into  the  river,  f 

*  The  account  in  the  £tat  de  France  varies  from  that  in  the  text. 

t  There  is  a  curious  story  of  an  apothecary  who  discovered  that  the  fat  of 

FF 


450  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

As  night  came  on,  the  murderers,  now  joined  by  the  mob, 
threw  off  all  restraint.  "  In  the  square  of  St.  John,"  says 
D'Aubigne,  a  pile  of  bodies  was  collected  so  vast  and  terrible 
as  to  exceed  description."  In  this  city  alone,  4000  persons, 
including  the  famous  musician  Goudimel,  are  estimated  to 
have  been  killed ;  *  and  yet  Mandelot  wrote  to  the  king,  re- 
gretting that  a  few  had  escaped,  and  begging  for  a  share  of 
the  spoils.f  At  Aries  the  river  became  so  putrid  from  the 
corpses  rolling  down  from  Lyons,  that  the  inhabitants  were 
for  several  days  unable  to  drink  its  waters. J 

At  Orleans  the  massacre  had  its  peculiar  features  of  atroci- 
ty. §  One  La  Bouilli  invited  his  friend  La  Cour  to  supper, 
and  stabbed  him  as  he  sat  at  table.  Taillebois,  a  professor  of 
law,  was  murdered  by  his  own  pupils.  Some  of  them  went 
to  his  house  and  begged  to  see  his  library ;  and  when  he 
showed  it  them,  they  began  to  ask  him  for  some  of  his  books, 
which  he  gave  them.  "  This  is  not  all,"  they  said ;  "  we  in- 
tend to  kill  you."  Falling  on  his  knees,  he  prayed  a  few  min- 
utes in  silence  and  then  exclaimed,  "  I  am  ready !  slay  me  at 
once."  This  they  would  not  do,  but  drove  him  into  the 


the  bodies  was  valuable  and  would  fetch  a  high  price,  and  of  a  general 
scramble  for  the  bodies  in  the  river,  which  were  dragged  out,  that  the  fat 
might  be  extracted  and  sold.  Mem.  £tat  de  France,  i.  263  b. 

*  "In  one  dav,"  says  one  account,  which  is  not  probable.  A  contempo- 
rary brochure  more  moderately  sets  down  the  total  at  1800.  Massacre  de 
ceux  de  la  Rel.  1572:  Mem.  £tat  de  France. 

t  De  Thou  says  that  the  Huguenots  who  fled  to  the  Celestine  monas- 
tery were  killed;  but  Golnitz  affirms  the  contrary:  "In  hanc  evangeli- 
corum  truculentam  necem  noluisse  etiam  consentire  dicnntur  canonici 
in  sede  Coelestinorum."  Ulysses,  p.  331.  So  also  Mem.  £iat  de  France,  i. 
2606. 

I  Ten  leaves,  probably  containing  an  account  of  the  massacre,  are  sus- 
piciously torn  out  of  the  Actes  Consulates  of  the  city.  The  Catholic  his- 
torian says  briefly :  "  Huit  jours  apres,  le  'memo  massacre  fut  fait  a  Lyon  ; 
je  n'ai  rien  k  dire  la-dessus."  An  expressive  silence !  Montfalcon,  Hist. 
Lyon,  ii.  p.  685. 

§  The  order  for  the  massacre  was  transmitted  by  Sorbin,  the  king's 
preacher.  The  author  of  the  Martyrologue  says  the  murders  began  without 
orders.  P.  712,  recto. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  451 

street,  where  his  courage  failed  at  the  sight  of  a  poor  shoe- 
maker who  lay  bleeding  to  death.  Though  scarcely  able  to 
walk,  he  was  driven  forward,  until  he  came  in  front  of  the 
Law  Schools  where  he  used  to  teach.  There  the  murderers 
put  an  end  to  his  long  agony.  Nicholas  Bongars  lay  at  the 
point  of  death  when  some  ruffians  broke  into  his  room.  They 
respected  the  dying  man,  but  murdered  the  apothecary  who 
was  attending  upon  him.  The  next  day  a  man  who  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  visiting  Bongars,  went  to  the  house,  and  sa- 
luting his  mother  at  the  door,  as  she  like  a  good  Catholic 
was  going  to  mass,  went  up  stairs,  stabbed  the  sick  man, 
wiped  his  dagger  in  the  bed-clothes,  and  departed  as  he 
had  come,  without  betraying  the  least  emotion.  Of  the 
victims,  some  were  tossed  into  a  ditch,  and  then  left  to 
be  devoured  by  wolves  and  dogs ;  others  were  thrown  into 
the  Loire,  which  became  so  discolored  that  the  Catholics 
refused  to  drink  the  water  or  to  eat  the  fish  caught  in  it. 
Of  the  fourteen  hundred  victims,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
were  women. 

The  massacre  at  Bordeaux  did  not  begin  until  the  3d  of  Oc- 
tober. The  populace  had  been  inflamed  by  the  sermons  of  one 
Auger,  a  Jesuit ;  on  Michaelmas  Day  he  said  from  the  pulpit : 
"  Who  executed  the  divine  judgments  at  Paris  ?  The  angel 
of  God.  Who  in  Orleans?  The  angel  of  God.  Who  in  a 
hundred  cities  of  this  realm  ?  The  angel  of  God.  And  who 
will  execute  them  in  Bordeaux  ?  The  angel  of  God,  however 
man  may  try  to  resist  him."  The  slaughter  was  carried  out 
by  an  organized  band  of  ruffians  wearing  the  "  bonnet  rouge," 
which  afterward  became  so  famous  in  history.  Many  of  the 
Huguenots  found  a  safe  refuge  in  the  houses  of  certain  priests 
and  Catholic  laymen,  who  were  horrified  at  the  barbarities 
they  had  witnessed.  Others  found  a  secure  asylum  in  the 
castles  of  Ham  and  Trompette. 

At  Meaux,  all  the  houses  in  the  market-place  were  com- 
pletely gutted,  and  many  of  their  inhabitants  killed.  The 
next  day  (August  26),  the  mob  entered  the  prison,  which  was 


452  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

crammed  with  Huguenots  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and 
more.  They  were  called  out  one  by  one  into  the  yard,  and 
such  as  sword  and  pike  failed  to  kill  instantly,  had  their  brains 
beaten  out  with  the  sledge  hammers  used  by  the  butchers  to 
knock  down  their  bullocks.  Some  were  buried,  still  breath- 
ing, in  a  trench  dug  to  receive  them,  and  when  this  was  filled, 
the  rest  were  thrown  into  the  Marne. 

The  news  of  the  massacre  reached  Troyes  on  the  26th 
of  August,  when  the  gates  were  immediately  closed  to  pre- 
vent the  frightened  Huguenots  from  escaping.  Many  were 
taken  to  prison,  but  there  was  no  general  slaughter  until 
the  4th  of  September,  when  one  Belin,  an  apothecary,  arrived 
from  Paris  with  the  king's  orders  of  the  28th  of  August, 
forbidding  the  Protestants  to  be  molested.*  This  wretch 
persuaded  the: high  bailiff  and  the  council  to  murder  the  pris- 
oners, and  then  issue  the  proclamation.  The  public  execu- 
tioner refused  to  lend  himself  to  the  foul  plot.  "  It  Avas 
his-  duty,"  he  said,  "  to  put  to  death  only  such  as  had  been 
legally  condemned."  This  did  not  save  the  prisoners,  who 
were  butchered  by  a  drunken  mob,  and  their  blood  flowing 
under  the  gate  into  the  street  filled  the  humane  Catholics 
with  horror. 

The  governor  of  Rouen  hesitated  to  execute  the  orders  he 
had  received,  and  asked  for  fresh  instructions.  The  answer 
being  unfavorable,  he  locked  up  all  the  Protestants  he  could 
find,  and  on  the  1 7th  of  September  the  city  gates  were  shut,  and 
military  posts  established  in  the  squares.  A  band  of  assassins 
then  went  to  the  prisons,  and  killed  with  clubs  and  daggers 
about  sixty  Huguenots,  according  to  a  list  they  carried  with 
them.  They  next  searched  the  private  houses,  where  the  num- 
ber of  victims  of  both  sexes  amounted  to  more  than  six  hun- 
dred. 

On  the  last  day  of  August  the  capitouls  of  Toulouse  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Joyeuse,  lieutenant-general  in  Languedoc, 

*  See  Mnrtiii  :  Hist.  France,  t.  ix.  p.  337,  note. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  453 

giving  an  account  of  the  massacre  of  the  24th,  and  adding  that 
the  king  "  would  not  permit  any  infringement  of  the  Edict  of 
Pacification."  *  He  farther  instructed  the  magistrates  to  be 
on  the  watch  lest  the  Protestants  should  rise,  and  ordered  the 
guards  to  be  doubled,  "  in  the  quietest  way  possible,  so  as  to 
incommode  nobody."  Jean  d'Affis,  the  first  president,  com- 
municated this  message  to  the  magistrates,  desiring  them 
particularly  to  see  that  there  were  "  no  assemblies,  riots,  or 
cruelties,  to  the  prejudice  of  public  tranquillity."  As  far  as. 
the  language  of  the  proclamation  went,  nothing  could  be  more 
conducive  to  peace  and  good-will  among  the  followers  of  both 
religions.  According  to  the  Edict,  the  Huguenots  were  for- 
bidden to  assemble  for  worship  within  a  certain  distance  of 
the  city ;  but,  as  their  ordinary  meeting-place  was  at  Castanet, 
a  little  village  just  within  the  prescribed  limits,  the  magis- 
trates, for  some  reason  unknown,  determined  on  a  literal  in- 
terpretation of  the  law,  and  arrested  ah1  who  were  present  at 
divine  worship  on  the  4th  of  September.  The  prisoners  were 
not  ill  treated,  but  held  in  safe  custody  until  the  king's  pleas- 
ure should  be  known.  Of  the  300  captured,  more  than  200 
managed  to  escape  with  the  connivance  of  their  jailers.  On 
the  1st  of  October  a  number  of  ruffian  soldiers,  armed  with 
pike  and  arquebuse,  entered  Touloiise,  and  soon  made  known 
their  business  by  threatening  peaceable  citizens  in  the  streets, 
abusing  them,  as  "  Patarins,  Parpaillots,  and  Huguenots."f 
Having  found  a  leader  in  one  Latour,  prior  of  the  College  of 
St.  Catherine,  they  broke  open  the  prisons  and  murdered  the 
prisoners.  The  ruffians,  now  masters  of  the  city,  began  to  at- 

*  "  Ne  voulait  que  aulcune  chose  fust  attcntee  ni  innovcSc  centre  1'edict  de 
lapaix."  Reyistre  des  Conseils,  iv.  p.  137.  See  also  the  Reyistre  du  Park- 
ment  for  1572.  "Quest!  ordini  (says  Homero  Tortora)  non  giunsero  a 
tempo  in  molti  luoghi  per  che  la  fama  che  vola  per  tutto  il  reame  di  quanto 
era  awenuto  a  Parigi  invita  cattolici  di  moltc  citta  a  fare  il  medesimo." 
1st.  di  Francia,  4to.  Venezia,  1G19. 

t  Memoirs  of  Latomy,  MSS.  The  autograph  copy  differs  materially  from 
the  printed  text,  which  is  of  little  value.  Jacques  Caches,  a  Huguenot,  has 
left  memoirs,  portions  of  which  would  repay  publication. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

tack  the  Catholics  also,  for  plunder,  not  religion,  was  their 
real  object.  One  of  their  victims  was  a  priest  named  Guestret, 
murdered  by  Latour,  with  whom  he  had  a  lawsuit ;  *  and  Jean 
Coras,  the  famous  legist. 

But,  happily  for  human  nature,  the  history  of  this  period  is 
not  one  of  unrelieved  treachery  and  murder.  There  were 
many  brave  and  honorable  gentlemen  in  France,  who  refused 
to  obey  the  bloody  rescripts  of  the  court.  St.  Herein  of  Mont- 
merin,  governor  of  Auvergne,  wrote  to  the  king :  "  Sire,  I 
have  received  an  order  under  your  majesty's  seal  to  put  to 
death  all  the  Protestants  in  my  province.  I  respect  your 
majesty  too  much  to  suppose  the  letter  is  other  than  a  for- 
gery; and  if  (which  God  forbid)  the  order  really  proceeds 
from  your  majesty,  I  have  still  too  much  respect  for  you 
to  obey  it."  Although  the  Huguenots  of  Auvergne  es- 
caped the  massacre,  there  are  reasons  for  doubting  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  letter.  The  Dulaure  manuscripts  contain 
a  very  circumstantial  account  of  how  one  Captain  Com- 
belle  was  sent  by  the  king  to  M.  de  St.  Herrent  (Herein) 
with  a  dispatch  containing  orders  to  exterminate  the  Hu- 
guenots. On  the  road  he  fell  in  with  another  traveler,  who 
had  escaped  from  the  massacre  at  Paris,  and  represented 
himself  as  the  bearer  of  instructions  to  Marshal  Damville 
in  Languedoc  to  put  all  the  Calvinists  in  his  government  to 
death.  They  traveled  together,  and  the  end  was  that 
Combelle's  dispatch  was  stolen  at  Moulins,  where  they  both 
slept  in  the  same  room.  The  thief  hurried  to  Issoire, 
gave  the  packet  to  the  minister  Claude  Baduel,  bidding 
him  warn  his  co-religionists  to  flee  at  once.  Combelle  con- 
tinued his  journey,  and  told  St.  Herrent  the  contents  of  the 


*  Felice  in  a  paragraph  of  a  few  lines  manages  to  include  almost  as 
many  mistakes.  The  arrests  did  not  take  place  on  August  31 ;  the  num- 
ber of  victims  was  not  300,  and  D'Affis  gave  no  order  for  their  execu- 
tion. The  magistrates,  having  no  regular  police  or  armed  force  at  their 
disposal,  were  unable  to  resist  the  mob  and  the  soldiers.  Archives  of  Tou- 
louse, ad  ann. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  455 

lost  letter.*  If  this  narrative  be  true,  St.  Herein  could 
hardly  answer  a  letter  he  did  not  receive.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  he  imprisoned  all  the  Protestants  at  Issoire, 
while  waiting  for  farther  orders,  and  that  at  Aurillac  in  his 
government  eighty  Protestants  were  murdered. 

Viscount  Orte  or  Orthez,  governor  of  Bayonne,  wrote  a 
letter  which  one  would  fain  believe  to  be  true,  in  spite  of  the 
discredit  recently  thrown  upon  it :  f  "  Sire,  I  have  communi- 
cated your  majesty's  commands  to  the  faithful  inhabitants 
and  garrison  of  this  city.  I  have  found  among  them  many 
good  citizens  and  brave  soldiers,  but  not  one  executioner." 
One  thing  is  certain,  that  the  Huguenots  in  Bayonne  were 
saved. 

When  the  king's  lieutenant  waited  upon  James  Hennuyer, 
Bishop  of  Lisieux,  to  communicate  the  orders  he  had  received 
to  kill  the  Huguenots  in  that  city, "  No,  no,  sir,"  he  replied, 
"  I  oppose,  and  will  always  oppose,  the  execution  of  such  an 
order,  to  which  I  can  not  consent.  I  am  pastor  of  the  church 
of  Lisieux,  and  the  people  you  are  commanded  to  slay  are  my 
flock.  Although  they  are  wanderers  at  present,  having  stray- 
ed from  the  fold  which  has  been  confided  to  me  by  Jesus 
Christ,  the  supreme  pastor,  they  may  nevertheless  return,  and 
I  will  not  give  up  the  hope  of  seeing  them  come  back.  I  do 
not  read  in  the  Gospel  that  the  shepherd  ought  to  suffer  the 
blood  of  his  sheep  to  be  shed ;  on  the  contrary,  I  find  that  he 
is  bound  to  pour  out  his  own  blood  and  give  his  own  life  for 
them.  Take  the  order  back  again,  for  it  shall  never  be  exe- 

*This  curious  story  will  be  found  in  the  Dulatire  MSS.,  preserved  in  the 
public  library  of  Clermont-Ferrand.  This  (to  say  nothing  of  the  instances 
already  given)  disposes  of  Capefiguc's  "  inability  to  find  any  proof  of  orders 
issued  by  the  king  to  massacre  in  the  provinces."  Hist,  de  la  Reforme,  iii. 
p.  229,  note. 

t  Capefiguc  says  the  letter  is  a  forgery  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. ;  but  it  is 
published  by  Agrippa  d'Aubigne'  in  1618.  Adiram  d'Aspremonte,  Vicomtc 
d'Orte  (as  he  is  sometimes  called),  was  a  cruel  man,  cruel  to  both  parties. 
Even  Charles  IX.  was  forced  to  write  to  him  in  1574,  and  tell  him  to  be 
more  moderate. 


456  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

cuted  so  long  as  I  live."  *  And  the  Huguenots  of  Lisieux 
were  spared. 

When  the  fatal  order  was  brought  to  Arnay-le-Duc  by 
two  messengers  in  rapid  succession,  Elinor  Chabot,  Count  of 
Charny,  asked  the  advice  of  the  council.  That  body  was  di- 
vided in  opinion,  until  a  young  and  obscure  advocate  quoted 
a  law  enacted  by  Theodosius  when  suffering  under  remorse  for 
a  massacre  executed  by  his  orders  at  Thessalonica.  By  this 
law,  all  governors  were  forbidden  to  carry  out  any  such  com- 
mands in  future,  until  the  lapse  of  thirty  days,  during  which 
interval  they  were  to  demand  a  written  confirmation  of  the 
order.  Moderate  counsels  prevailed,  and  two  days  later  came 
a  fresh  mandate  from  the  king,  revoking  the  former  order. 
Chabot,  as  prudent  as  he  was  brave,  boldly  declared  that 
"  the  severity  and  cruelty  which  had  been  exercised  toward 
the  Protestants  had  hitherto  only  served  to  exasperate  them ; 
and  that  the  best  means  of  bringing  them  back  to  the  Church 
was  to  treat  them  with  kindness."  So  that  there  was  little 
blood  shed  in  Burgundy  (says  Do  Thou),  and  nearly  all  the 
Protestants  returned  to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors.! 

The  royal  orders  were  received  at  Senlis  on  the  24th ;  but 
the  Catholics,  unwilling  to  stain  their  hands  with  the  blood 
of  their  fellow-citizens,  only  enjoined  them  to  leave  the  town, 
which  was  done  "  in  a  quiet  and  orderly  manner.''^  Bertrand 
de  Gordes,  governor  of  Dauphiny,  having  received  a  written 
order  revoking  all  verbal  orders,  wrote  to  the  king  saying  he 
had  received  no  orders,  verbal  or  otherwise  ;  to  which  Charles 
replied  that  "  he  need  not  trouble  himself,  for  the  orders  were 
given  only  to  some  that  were  about  him."  The  historian  of 


*  The  bishop  ia  said  to  have  been  in  Paris  at  this  time  with  the  court  as 
almoner.  This,  if  true,  is  fatal  to  the  correctness  of  the  anecdote.  I  do 
not  lay  much  stress  upon  the  language  of  his  epitaph:  "Contre  lesquels 
[the  Huguenots]  il  ne  faisait  pas  faute  de  se  montrer." 

t  De  Thon,  torn.  vi.  p.  432  (4to  ed.).  See  also,  La  Virotte :  Annales 
d'Arnay,  8vo.  1837. 

J  Journal  of  Mallet  and  Vauticr,  Esprit  de  la  Liyue,  ii.  p.  51  (Paris,  1808). 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  457 

the  religious  wars  in  Dauphiny  says  with  a  "dit-on"  that 
Gordes  "  refused  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  court,  or  at  least 
contrived  to  avoid  carrying  out  his  instructions."  *  Another 
historian  tells  us  that  he  would  not  believe  the  king  could 
have  desired  the  death  of  so  many  innocent  persons.  In  this 
he  was  supported  by  the  first  president, "  who,  like  all  men 
of  learning,  was  an  enemy  to  violence."  f  The  king  can  have 
had  nothing  to  do  with  such  a  massacre,  he  said.  "  His  power 
and  authority  are  abused  by  foreigners,  and  it  is  our  duty  as 
magistrates  and  Frenchmen  to  preserve  his  subjects  for  him." 
On  October  11,  Gordes  issued  an  order  that  any  attempt 
upon  the  lives  of  the  Huguenots  would  be  punished  with 
death  ;  and  at  the  same  time  certain  precautionary  restrictions 
were  imposed  on  religious  assemblies.  On  the  18th,  he  exhort- 
ed the  king's  officers  and  governors  "  to  comfort  and  assist  such 
as  manifest  a  desire  to  return  to  the  true  Church."  J 

At  Provins  many  Huguenots  thought  it  prudent  to  be  con- 
verted;  and,  says  Claude  Haton, "  for  eight  days  and  nights 
they  dared  not  show  themselves."  But  there  was  no  blood 
shed  in  that  little  town.  The  garrulous  chronicler  tells  us 
how  the  Huguenot  gentlemen  and  demoiselles  of  the  environs, 
notwithstanding  their  chateaux-forts,  ran  away  or  emigrated : 
some  to  Sedan,  others  to  Germany  or  Geneva.  The  men  wore 
white  crosses  on  their  hats  and  sleeves ;  the  women  had  beads 
in  their  hands  or  fastened  to  their  girdles.  These  were  very 
common  practices  to  save  life.  At  Chateau-Thierry,  where 
heretics  were  few  in  proportion  to  the  population,  no  violence 
was  committed,  and  not  a  drop  of  blood  was  shed,  though  the 
town  was  immediately  dependent  on  the  king. 

When  the  governor  of  Dieppe  received  the  fatal  instructions, 


*  Long :  Guerres  de  Reliyion  dans  le  Davphint.  De  Thou  (vi.  428)  says 
Gordes  excused  himself  on  the  ground  that  the  Huguenots  were  too  strong. 

t  Chorier  :  Hist.  Dauphind,  fol.  ii.  p.  647. 

J  Long.  The  historian  gives  a  circular  (December  G,  l.">72),  in  which 
Gordes  exhorts  the  Huguenots  to  return  to  the  Romish  religion,  "parceque 
le  roi  s'est  r&olu  k  n'en  endurer  autre." 


458  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

he  assembled  the  Huguenots  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Palace  of 
Justice  and  read  the  letter  to  them,  following  it  up  by  a  char- 
acteristic speech :  "  Citizens,  the  orders  I  have  received  can 
only  concern  rebellious  and  seditious  Calvinists,  of  whom, 
thanks  be  to  God  !  there  are  none  in  this  place.  We  read  in 
the  Gospel  that  love  to  God  and  our  neighbor  is  the 
duty  of  Christians  ;  let  us  profit  by  the  lesson,  which  Christ 
himself  has  given  us.  Children  of  the  same  Father,  let  us 
live  together  as  brothers,  and  having  for  each  other  the  chari- 
ty of  the  Samaritan.  These  are  my  sentiments,  and  I  hope 
you  all  share  them ;  they  make  me  feel  assured  that  in  this 
town  there  does  not  exist  a  man  who  is  unworthy  to  live." 
Touched  by  his  words,  says  the  historian,  the  Huguenots  re- 
canted, and  vowed  to  live  and  die  in  the  Catholic  faith. 

The  order  to  sweep  Nismes  clear  of  every  Huguenot  with- 
in its  walls  reached  that  venerable  city  on  August  29,  when 
Jean  de  Montcalm,  the  juge-mage,  called  an  extraordinary 
council,  before  which  he  placed  the  royal  missive.  Unani- 
mously they  resolved  not  to  act  upon  it.  Thinking  it  unneces- 
sary and  possibly  dangerous  to  make  any  public  explanation, 
the  magistrates  took  every  precaution  to  preserve  order, 
and  called  upon  the  leading  men  of  both  religions  to  swear 
to  watch  over  the  safety  of  all  and  to  defend  each  other. 
In  order  to  keep  out  strangers,  every  gate  was  closed,  except 
one,  and  the  guard  of  that  was  given  to  two  trusty  citizens. 
When  this  was  done,  they  informed  Joyeuse,  the  commander 
of  the  province,  who  approved  of  their  measures.* 

What  was  the  number  of  victims  sacrificed  to  the  policy  of 
Catherine  and  the  jealousy  of  Anjou  ?  It  is  impossible  to  ar- 
rive at  any  thing  like  a  correct  estimate ;  for  hardly  two  his- 
torians give  the  same  figures,  and  none  of  them  mention  the 
grounds  of  their  estimate.  It  is  evident  that  in  many  in- 
stances they  are  mere  random  guesses,  and  as  such  without 
any  weight. 

*Borrcl:  Hist.  flgllseRef.  de  Nines,  8vo.  Toulouse,  185C. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  459 

The  following  table  for  Paris  only  will  show  the  impossi- 
bility of  accepting  any  of  the  statements  : 

AcrriiOBtTiES.  NUMBERS. 

Caveyrac  ) 

•     ,.  .x     ;-      .       .       .       .       . 

La  Popehmere  ) 

Kirkaldy  *        ~\ 

Papyr  Masson  !  2000 

Tocsin 

Tavannes         ) 

Aubigne  )  qn 

~      .,      .  Y  •  •          •  •  .  .  oUUU 

Capilupi  ) 

Alva's  Bulletin 3500 

*°nanni      1 4000 

Bran  tome    ) 

Gomez  da  Silva       } 

Mezeray  .  .        .        5000 

Simancas  Archives  ) 

Neustadt  Letter  f 6000 

Claude  Haton  J 7000 

Art'de  Verifier         1 

Davila 

Etat  de  France          V        ....      10,000 

Peleus :  Henry  IV.    j 

Reveille-Matin         ) 

Probably  the  number  of  victims  may  have  amounted  to 
6000;  but  to  reduce  it  as  low  as  1600  for  all  France,  which 
Dr.  Lingard  has  done,  is  monstrously  absurd.  All  that  we 
know  positively  is  that  a  certain  number  of  bodies  were  bur- 
ied, and  beyond  that  all  is  conjecture.  The  length  of  time 
through  which  the  massacre  was  continued,  is  one  evidence  of 
the  numbers  that  were  slain.  The  nuncio  Salviati  wrote  on 
the  15th  of  September:  "Every  night  some  tens  of  Hugue- 
nots, caught  by  day  in  various  places,  are  thrown  into  the  riv- 
er without  any  disturbance."  On  the  next  day  the  Count  of 

*  To  them  of  the  Castle.  Record  Office,  MS.  Queen  of  Scots.  He  writes 
at  noon  on  the  25th. 

t  "  Seint  pleiben  bey  1000  Personen  und  sonst  pemeiner  Personen  iiber 
5000  welche  meisten  theills  ebendig,  theils  todt  ins  Wasscr  geworffen,  theils 
heuffig  in  Campo  Clericorum  vergraben  worden." 

J  "Plus  de  7000  personnes  bien  connues,  sans  autres  jcte'es  dans  la  rivifero 
qui  ne  furent  connues."  P.  679. 


•iGO  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

St.  Pol,  embassador  from  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  wrote :  "  They 
are  continuing  the  great  execution  against  these  folks,  who 
are  thrown  into  the  river  by  night;"  and  as  late  as  the  26th, 
more  than  a  month  after  the  first  outbreak,  he  reported :  "  They 
are  daily  putting  Huguenots  to  death  in  Paris  and  elsewhere." 
The  registers  of  the  Hotel-de-Ville  supply  us  with  a  curious 
comment  upon  the  massacre.  On  September  9th,  fifteen  livres 
tournois  were  paid  to  the  sextons  of  the  cemetery  of  St.  Inno- 
cent and  their  eight  helpers  for  burying  the  dead  bodies  round 
the  convent  of  Nigeon  (Bonshommes  of  Chaillot)  "  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  infection."  On  the  23d,  twenty  livres  were  paid 
to  the  same  men  for  burying  in  one  week  1100  bodies  found 
in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Cloud,  Auteuil,  and  Chaillot.  If 
we  suppose  the  payments  proportionate  to  the  numbers  buried, 
those  paid  for  on  the  9th  must  have  been  nearly  1500;  thus 
giving  for  all  Paris  a  known  massacre  of  2600.  The  same 
rolls  record  the  payment  of  one  Nicholas  Sergent,  who  had 
stopped  the  ferries  and  prevented  the  crossing  of  the  Seine, 
and  also  80  livres  for  medals  struck  to  commemorate  the 
massacre,  to  be  distributed  among  the  municipal  officers. 

But  the  dead  accounted  for  above  could  not  have  been  all 
that  perished :  there  is  indeed  direct  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
Many  were  buried  in  the  city,  as  Oudin  Petit  in  his  cellar, 
and  there  is  a  tradition  that  475  were  interred  near  the  Church 
of  St.  Gorvais,  and  that  theirs  were  the  bones  discovered  in 
1851.* 

In  Alva's  Bulletin  we  read  that  more  than  3500  were  dis- 
patched "  in  a  short  time,"  and  that  the  principal  gentlemen 
were  flung  into  the  Clerks'  Well  (Puis  aux  Clercs),  where 
"dead  animals  were  thrown."  When  Gomicourt,  Alva's 
agent,  had  his  farewell  audience,  he  asked  the  queen-mother 
for  her  answer  to  his  commission.  She  replied  that  she  could 
give  him  no  other  answer  than  what  Christ  said  to  John's 


*  See  note  to  M.  Atb.  Coqnerel's  monograph,  "La  St.-Barthe'Ieiny,"  in 
the  Xoui-clle  Revue  d&  Theologie. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  461 

disciples :  Ite  et  nunciate  quce  vidistis  et  audivistis :  cceci  vi- 
dent,  claudi  ambulant,  leprosi  mundantur  ;  bidding  him  also 
not  forget  to  tell  the  duke  in  addition,  Beatus  qui  nonfuerit 
in  me  scandalizatus.  Such  blasphemous  application  of  Holy 
Writ  is  perhaps  unparalleled  in  history. 

An  equal  uncertainty  prevails  as  to  the  number  murdered 
all  over  France.  The  calculations  or  guesses  range  from 
2000  to  100,000. 

AUTHORITIES.  NUMBERS. 

Caveyrac          ......          2000 

PapyrMasson 10,000 

Martyrologue  ......       15,000 

De  Thou  } 

Montfau9on       ,- 20,000 

La  Popeliniere.) 

Bonanni 25,000 

Mem  fitat  de  France  >, 

Felibien  30000 

Pibrac 

Serranus  J 

Davila 40,000 

Sully 70,000 

DeFnroribusl 100  000 

Perefixe         ) 

If  it  be  necessary  to  choose  from  these  hap-hazard  estimates, 
that  of  De  Thou  is  preferable,  from  the  calm,  unexaggerating 
temper  of  the  man.  But  whatever  be  the  number,*  not  all  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  can  efface  the  stain  upon  the  characters  of 
those  concerned  in  the  massacre.  A  few  of  the  murderers — 
men  of  overheated  fanaticism — may  have  truly  believed  that 
they  were  doing  God  a  service  by  putting  heretics  to  death ; 
for  these  we  may  feel  pity  even  while  we  condemn.  But 
the  majority  of  the  assassins  were  impelled  by  the  lowest  of  all 
possible  motives.  Jealousy  and  ambition  filled  the  breast  of 
Catherine  de  Medicis ;  Anjou  was  envious  of  merit  and  virtues 

*  In  the  Mem.  £tat  de  France  (vol.  i.)  the  names  of  nearly  eight  hundred 
victims  all 'over  the  kingdom  arc  given.  See  also  ii.  20  and  25. 


462  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

he  could  never  hope  to  imitate,  and  which  were  a  standing  re- 
proach to  his  licentiousness;  Guise  dreamed  but  of  revenge;  and 
sinking  lower  in  the  scale  of  society,  but  not  lower  in  motives, 
the  people  were  eager  for  plunder,  jealous  of  the  success  of  the 
industrious  and  thrifty  Huguenots,  and  ignorantly  impelled  to 
murder  by  a  clergy  scarcely  less  ignorant  than  themselves. 
We  have  already  seen  one  instance  in  which  plunder  was  man- 
ifestly the  object  principally  aimed  at,  and  other  instances  are 
not  wanting.  In  Paris  alone,  600  houses  were  pillaged.* 
The  Duke  of  Anjou  was  accused  of  conniving  at  the  robbery 
of  the  house  of  a  wealthy  lapidary,  by  which  he  put  100,000 
crowns  into  his  purse.  The  Bastard  of  Angouleme  stripped 
the  house  of  the  Bishop  of  Chartres,  in  which  Queen  Joan  of 
Navarre  had  lodged ;  and  Capilupi  estimates  that  the  king's 
share  of  the  plunder  amounted  to  three  millions  of  gold.f 

"  The  equity  of  history,"  says  the  eloquent  historian  of  the 
Tudor  line, "  requires  that  men  be  tried  by  the  standard  of 
their  times."  J  But  low  as  that  standard  was  in  the  court  of 
Charles  IX.  and  Catherine  de  Medicis,  there  were  men  honest 
enough  to  condemn  the  crimes  which  have  made  the  Feast  of 
St.  Bartholomew  memorable  in  all  history.  Such  a  purely 
gratuitous  massacre  is  unexampled  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 
The  Greeks  of  Lesser  Asia  rose  and  slew  80,000  Romans  living 
among  them.  In  our  own  history  we  read  that  the  Britons 
massacred  whole  settlements  of  the  invading  Danes.  In  the 
Sicilian  Vespers  20,000  French  were  put  to  death  without  dis- 
tinction of  age  or  sex.  But  these  massacres,  however  con- 
demnable,  were  committed  in  the  name  of  freedom — to  drive 
out  a  foreign  conqueror,  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  invader ; 
but  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  arose  out  of  the  paltriest 
and  most  selfish  motives.  Envy,  jealousy,  greediness — such 

*  Bonanni :  Numism.  Ponlif.  i.  336.     Mezcray,  iii.  25G.     AMgt,  iii.  1082. 

t  "Fu  il  sacco  e  la  preda  grandissima  per  due  milioni  d'  oro."  Baschct, 
p.  549.  It  is  evident  that  these  nre  mere  guesses. 

J  "II  faut  jugcr  un  temps  d'aprus  son  esprit,  ses  emotions  et  scs  mccm>-." 
Ghtchard. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  463 

were  the  motives  of  Catherine,  of  Anjou,  and  of  their  council- 
ors. The  plea  of  religion  was  never  put  forward,  though  it  is 
a  plea  too  often  employed  to  extenuate  what  can  not  be  justified. 

But  if  the  moral  tone  of  the  age  had  not  been  low,  Cather- 
ine and  Charles  would  never  have  contemplated  so  foul  a  deed. 
Truth  and  honor,  either  among  men  or  women,  were  held  in 
slight  esteem  at  court;  and  the  modem  respect  for  human 
life  was  a  tiling  unknown.  Might  made  right.  Private  as- 
sassination 'was  a  venial  crime,  if  it  were  not  even  a  lawful 
means  of  getting  rid  of  an  enemy.  Even  Coligny  did  not 
speak  of  the  murder  of  Guise  before  Orleans  in  very  emphatic 
terms  of  condemnation.  Many  Catholics  looked  upon  the 
massacre  as  merely  a  sort  of  reprisals  for  the  blood  shed  by 
the  Huguenots  during  the  wars,  or  as  a  clever  mode  of  dis- 
abling them  forever.  This  is  the  tone  of  Pibrac's  defense  and 
of  Dorat's  song.  The  poet  congratulates  Charles  and  his 
brother  as  "crowning  the  work  of  ten  years'  war."  These 
wars  shall  supply  a  new.Homer  with  matter  for  a  new  Iliad. 
But  after  a  struggle  of  ten  years,  all  was  not  over.  Ulysses 
had  not  yet  taken  Troy,  and  above  all  had  not  killed  the  suit- 
ors !  "  One  night  did  this  deed.  By  the  counsel  of  another 
Pallas  (Catherine  de  Medicis)  see  Pergamus  overthrown,  Paris 
dead  with  Gaspar,  and  lying  in  blood  those  who  aspired  not 
to  the  hand  of  Penelope,  but  to  thy  crown,  O  king.  Their 
detestable  ambuscades  were  detected,  their  treachery  antici- 
pated. The  suitors  were  slain  like  pigs."  * 

We  need  make  very  little  allowance  for  poetical  exaggera- 
tion :  Dorat  merely  gave  bolder  expression  to  what  was  in 
many  persons'  thoughts.  Jean  le  Masle  published  in  1573  a 
"  Bref  Discours  sur  les  Troubles,"  in  which  he  eulogizes  the 
king  and  court  for  their  share  in  the  massacre,  and  writes  of 
Coligny : 

*  "Ut  porci  cccidcre  proci."  Exulting  over  Coligny,  he  says,  with  a 
coarse  play  upon  words : 

I'.irtc  Micerdntes  folitns  mutare  pudenda, 
Cuncta  pudenda  gerens,  nulla  pudenda  gerit. 


464:  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Cc  malhcureux 

(Qui  merite  cent  fois  avoir  la  roue) 
Put  mis  a  mort,  et  son  corps  par  la  bouc 
De  mainte  rue  honteusement  traine.* 

And  as  if  to  show  to  all  the  world  that  the  massacre  was  not 
an  unpremeditated  outbreak  of  fanaticism,  the  poet  says  in 
another  place : 

II  faut  punir  d'une  mort  tres-cruelle 
(Comme  autrefois)  le  premier  qui  grommellc 
Contre  1'eglise,  et  nous  pourrons  encor 
Voir  luire  ici  le  temps  et  le  siecle  d'or. 

Pierre  Charpentier,  a  renegade  Protestant  and  the  murder- 
er of  Ramus,  wrote  an  apologetic  "  Lettre  a  Franyois  Portes 
Candiois,"  which  has  been  described  as  a  "  monster  unique  of 
its  kind."f  The  most  labored  defense  was  that  of  Arnault 
Sorbin, J  entitled  "  Le  Vray  Resveille-matin  des  Calvinistes  et 
Publicans  Fran9ois"  (1576),  and  dedicated  "to  the  eternal 
memory  and  immortality  of  the  soul  of  the  late  Charles  IX." 
He  says  the  universe  will  call  the  Feast  of  St.  Bartholomew 
"le  jour  de  la  grande  justice,"  adding  that  "on  good  days 
good  deeds  are  done." 

Charles  IX.  had  two  medals  struck:  one  represents  the 
king  sitting  on  the  throne  .and  trampling  on  corpses,  with  the 
motto,  VIRTUS  IN  REBELLES  ;  §  the  other,  Hercules  destroy- 
ing the  hydra  with  fire,  NE  FEKKUM  TEMKAT  SIMUL  IGXIB' 
OBSTO.  On  the  27th  of  August  the  metropolitan  bishop  or- 

*  The  year  befpre  (1572)  he  published  a  Chant  d'Allfyresse  sur  la  Mort  de 
Coligny,  with  the  motto  of  Judas  :  "He  went  to  his  own." 

f  He  charges  Beza  with  giving  orders  ' '  qu'on  coupast  TO.  aldoia  aux  pres- 
tres  et  aux  moynes,  ajoutant  qu'il  en  vouloit  remplir  un  puy."  From  the 
date  of  the  letter  (September  15),  some  are  of  opinion  that  it  must  have 
been  written  before  the  massacre.  Portes's  answer  is  given  in  vol.  ii.  of  the 
Mem  Etat  de  France. 

%  Sorbin  was  chaplain  to  Charles  IX.,  and  wrote  a  eulogistic  account  of 
his  life,  in  which  he  skips  over  the  massacre  thus :  "  Le  jour  de  la  St.-B.  se 
passe,  oil  les  principaux  chefs  furent  chaties  scion  leurs  merites,  au  grand 
regret  de  ce  bon  roy. " 

§  See  vignette  on  title-page. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  465 

dcred  a  solemn  procession  for  the  following  Sunday  to  thank 
God  for  this  happy  beginning  (de  felici  incepta  extirpatione 
heresium).  On  the  25th  of  August,  1583,  William  Cecil 
wrote  to  Lord  Burghley  :  "  Upon  St.  Bartholomew's  Day  we 
had  here  [Paris]  solemn  processions  and  other  tokens  of  tri- 
umph and  joy  in  remembrance  of  the  slaughter  committed 
this  time  eleven  years  past."  *  The  procession  was  continued 
for  twenty  years,  until  Henry  IV.  entered  Paris.  In  1602, 
when  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  visited  Henry  IV.  and  after- 
ward traveled  through  France,  he  left  Marseilles  before  the 
Feast  of  St.  Bartholomew  to  escape  the  invitation  of  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  then  governor  of  Provence,  who  celebrated 
"  that  day  of  mournful  memory  by  running  at  the  ring,  by 
balls  and  banquets."f 

Some  defended  the  massacre  as  a  great,  act  of  state  policy. 
Among  them  was  Gerard  de  Groesbeck,  an  enlightened  tol- 
erant prelate,  who  governed  the  principality  of  Liege.  Re- 
plying to  Alva's  bulletin  announcing  the  slaughter,  he  calls  it 
"  a  clear  sign  that  our  Lord  God  wishes  to  arrange  matters 
for  the  greater  tranquillity  of  his  service."!  But  Charles  ev- 
idently felt  less  confident.  Writing  to  De  Cely,  the  president 
of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  he  ordered  him  to  keep  "  very 
secret "  any  papers  he  might  have  relative  to  the  arrangements 
made  for  the  massacre,  so  that  they  might  not  get  into  print, 
adding  that  he  had  done  the  same  with  the  documents  in  his 
possession.§  Does  this  refer  to  some  mystery  that  has  es- 
caped the  eyes  of  the  historians  of  the  massacre  ? 

When  the  news  of  the  massacre  reached  Home,  the  exulta- 
tion among  the  clergy  knew  no  bounds.  The  Cardinal  of 

*  Ellis  :  Tetters  (sec.  scr.)  iii.  p.  23. 

t  Rommel  :  Corresp.ined.de  Henri  IV.     Paris,  1840. 

I  Bruxelles,  Bulletin,  ix.  1841  (pt.  1),  p.  5GO. 

§  March,  1573;  Revue  retrospect,  iii.  1835,  p.  195.  Sir  Henry  Ellis 
(Arcftccologia,  xxii.  1829,  p.  323)  held  it  to  be  "a  strong  proof  of  a  deliberate 
plot,"  that  the  documents  on  this  subject  had  disappeared  from  the  Public 
Records  in  France ;  but  we  have  given  ample  evidence  that  such  is  not  the 
case. 

Go 


466  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Lorraine  rewarded  the  messenger  with  a  thousand  crowns ; 
the  cannon  of  Saint  Angelo  thundered  forth  a  joyous  salute ; 
the  bells  rang  out  from  every  steeple ;  bonfires  turned  night 
into  day ;  and  Gregory  XIII.,*  attended  by  the  cardinals  and 
other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  went  in  long  procession  to  the 
Church  of  St.  Louis,  where  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  chanted  a 
Te  Deum.  A  pompous  Latin  inscription  in  gilt  letters  over 
the  entrance  describes  Charles  as  an  avenging  angel  sent 
from  heaven  .  ("  angelo  percussore  divinitus  immisso ")  to 
sweep  his  kingdom  from  heretics.f  A  medal  was  struck  to 
commemorate  the  massacre,!  and  in  the  Vatican  may  still  be 
seen  three  frescoes  by  Vasari  §  describing  the  attack  upon 
the  admiral,  the  king  in  council  plotting  the  massacre,  and  the 
massacre  itself.  Gregory  sent  Charles  the  golden  rose ;  and 
four  months  after  the  massacre,  when  humaner  feelings 
might  have  been  supposed  to  have  resumed  their  sway,  he 
listened  complacently  to  the  sermon  of  a  French  priest,  the 
learned  but  cankered  Muretus,  who  spoke  of  "  that  day  so 
full  of  happiness  and  joy  when  the  most  holy  father  re- 
ceived the  news  and  went  in  solemn  state  to  render  thanks  to 
God  and  St.  Louis.  .  .  .  That  night  the  stars  shone  with 
greater  lustre,  the  Seine  rolled  her  waters  more  proudly  to 
cast  into  the  sea  the  corpses  of  those  unholy  men ;"  and  so 
on  in  a  strain  of  rhapsody  unendurable  by  modern  ears. 
With  such  damning  evidence  as  this  against  the  Church  of 

*  Mezeray  and  Do  Sancy  call  the  pope,  Innocent  XIII. ;  Brantome  and 
Sully,  Pius  V. ;  but  the  latter  died  on  1st  May,  1572. 

f  Twelve  months  after  the  massacre,  the  cardinal  pnhlicly  applauded 
Charles  to  his  face  for  his  "holy  dissimulation."  Dale's  dispatch  :  Macin- 
tosh, Hist.  Engl.  iii.  226,  note. 

|  The  genuineness  of  this  medal  has  been  disputed  on  very  insufficient 
grounds.  It  is  engraved  in  Bonanni's  Numismata  Ponttficum  (2  vols.  fol. 
Roma:,  1G89)  torn.  i.  p.  336.  It  is  No.  27  of  the  series  of  Gregory  XIII. 
L'Estoile  mentions  it,  under  "Lundi,  30  juin,  1618,"  as  the  "piece  que  le 
pape  Gregoire  XIII.  fit  faire  a  Rome  1'an  1572." 

§  "  In  Constantini  qua?  nunc  et  visitnr  aula."  Thuanus  Posteritati.  The 
outline  of  one  of  these  frescoes  in  the  frontispiece  to  this  volume  is  taken 
from  De  Potter's  Lettres  de  Pie  V. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  467 

Rome,  a  recent  defender  of  that  church  vainly  contends  *  that 
the  clergy  had  no  part  in  the  massacre,  and  that  the  rejoicings 
were  over  rebels  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  their  rebellion,  and  not 
heretics  murdered  for  their  religion. 

Periere  latebrse 

Tot  scelerum  ;  populo  venia  est  erepta  nocenti, 
Agnovere  suos.f 

There  is  no  retreat  for  the  Church  which  approved  of  and 
justified  such  a  crime,  even  if  the  victims  were  political  rebels.^ 

Philip  II.  was,  if  possible,  more  delighted  than  the  pope. 
When  he  received  the  news,  he  laughed  aloud — for  the  first 
time  in  his  life ;  §  for  Charles  had  not  only  destroyed  heresy, 
but  weakened  France  by  the  murder  of  so  many  veteran  sol- 
diers. And  Flanders,  too,  was  safe !  ||  He  professed  to  be 
quite  offended  with  St.  Goar  and  all  who  "  tried  to  make  him 
believe  that  it  had  taken  place  on  a  sudden  and  without  delib- 
eration."^ The  news  reached  him  on  the  12th  of  September, 
and  on  the  1 8th  he  told  the  Marquis  of  Ayamonte,  his  embas- 
sador  at  Paris,  to  congratulate  the  king  "for  a  resolution  so 
honorable,  Christian,  and  valiant;"  and  that  the  news  was 
"one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  he  had  ever  known."**  To 


*  See  Dublin  Review  for  October,  1865. 

t  Lucan,  iv.  192. 

I  In  Gregory's  instructions  to  Cardinal  des  Ursins  (Fabio  Orsini),  he  is  to 
exhort  Charles  "ut  cocptis  insistat  fortiter,  neque  curam  asperis  remediis 
inchoatam  prospere,  perdat  leniora  miscendo. "  Bonanni,  i.  p.  323,  336,  No. 
xxvii.  Ann.  Ecdes.  ad  ann.  1572,  in  Potter.  Hist,  du  Christ,  vii.  p.  330. 

§  "  Who  otherwise  never  laughed."  St.  Goar  to  Queen ;  Raumer,  i.  p. 
199. 

||  "  Deconcertaron  todos  los  planes  del  gabinete  do  Isabel  [Elizabeth  of 
England]  d  impedieron  que  se  realizase  su  famosa  liga  con  Francia."  Mem. 
Acad.  Madrid,  vii.  p.  374. 

^[Juan  de  Cuniga,  erabassador  at  Rome,  writes  to  Philip  II.  that  "the 
French  here  declare  that  the  king  meditated  this  stroke  since  the  day  he 
made  peace  ;"  but  in  another  place  he  adds,  that  "  he  was  credibly  informed, 
if  the  assault  on  the  admiral  was  projected  a  few  days  before,  and  author- 
ized by  the  king,  all  the  rest  was  inspired  by  circumstances."  Bulletin  Acad. 
Set.  Bruxelles,  xvi.  (1849)  p.  250. 

**  "  Uno  de  los  mayores  contentamientos  que  he  recibido  en  mi  vida." 


468  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Catherine,  who  had  spoken  of  "  God's  favor  in  giving  her  son 
the  means  of  getting  rid  of  his  subjects,  rebels  against  Heaven 
and  their  king,  and  of  preserving  himself  from  their  hands,"  * 
he  replied :  "  The  just  punishment  inflicted  on  the  admiral  and 
his  followers  was  an  act  of  such  courage  and  prudence,  and  of 
so  great  service  to  God's  glory  and  honor,  and  such  universal 
benefit  to  Christendom  .  .  .  that  it  was  the  best  and  most  de- 
lightful news  I  could  receive."  f  Philip  went  even  farther 
than  this,  urging  the  king  to  exterminate  all  the  heretics  in 
his  dominions,  and  offering  his  services  toward  so  desirable  an 
end.  There  is  a  story  in  Brantome  that  Philip  sent  the  letter 
containing  the  first  account  of  the  massacre  to  the  Admiral  of 
Castile,  who  received  it  while  at  supper,  and  thinking  to  pro- 
mote the  cheerfulness  of  his  guests,  read  it  aloud.  The  Duke 
of  Inf antado,  one  of  the  party,  asked  if  Coligny  and  his  friends 
were  Christians.  He  was  answered  in  the  affirmative.  "  How 
is  it,  then,  that  being  Frenchmen  and  Christians,  they  have 
been  killed  like  brutes  ?"  "  Gently,  duke,"  said  the  admiral, 
"  do  you  not  know  that  war  in  France  means  peace  for  Spain  ?" 

Alva,  who  was  more  clear-sighted,  condemned  the  massacre ; 
and  Micheli,  the  Venetian  embassador,  affirms  that  all  think- 
ing men,  without  distinction  of  creed,  protested  against  the 
crime,  denouncing  it  as  an  act  of  unbridled  tyranny,  which  none 
but  an  "Italiana  Fiorentina  e  di  casa  dei  Medici"  could  con- 
trive, and  none  but  Italians  carry  into  execution. 

In  England  a  thrill  of  horror  ran  through  the  nation  on  re- 
ceiving intelligence  of  the  slaughter.  A  treaty  had  just  been 
concluded  with  France,  and  negotiations  were  actively  proceed- 
ing for  the  marriage  of  Alen9on  with  Elizabeth.  On  a  sud- 
den it  was  perceived  that  the  nation  had  been  duped,  and  that 
popery  was  as  dangerous  as  ever.  For  some  days  the  queen 
refused  to  receive  the  French  embassador:  at  length  he  was 
summoned  to  Richmond,  where  the  court  was  staying.  Hume 

*  Letter  of  August  25.     Simancas  Archives. 

t  "La  mejor  y  mas  nlegre  nueve  que  al  preseme  me  pudiera  venir." 
Gachard  :  Simancas  Archives. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  469 

thus  describes  the  scene :  "  A  melancholy  sorrow  sat  on  every 
face:  silence  as  the  dead  of  night  reigned  through  all  the 
chambers  of  the  royal  apartment;  the  courtiers  and  ladies, 
clad  in  deep  mourning,  were  ranged  on  each  side,  and  allowed 
the  embassador  to  pass  without  offering  him  a  salute  or  a  fa- 
vorable look,  until  he  was  admitted  to  the  queen  herself." 
La  Mothe-Fenelon  candidly  expressed  his  disapprobation  of 
the  murder,  and  declared  that  he  was  ashamed  to  be  counted 
a  Frenchman.*  Lord  Burghley  told  him  in  most  undiplomatic 
language,  that  "  the  Paris  massacre  was  the  most  horrible 
crime  which  had  been  committed  since  the  crucifixion  of 
Christ.  ...  It  was  a  deed  of  unexampled  infamy."  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  wrote  to  Walsingham :  "  Grant  that  the  admi- 
ral and  his  friends  were  guilty,  what  did  the  innocent  men, 
women,  and  children  at  Lyons  ?  What  did  the  sucking  chil- 
dren and  their  mothers  at  Rouen,  and  Caen,  and  elsewhere? 
Will  God  sleep .?"  But  more  plainly  still  spoke  Knox  to 
Du  Croc,  the  French  embassador:  "Go,  tell  your  king,"  said 
the  bold  apostle  of  Scotland,  "  go  tell  your  master,  that  God's 
vengeance  shall  never  depart  from  him  nor  from  his  house ; 
that  his  name  shall  remain  an  execration  to  posterity ;  and 
that  none  proceeding  from  his  loins  shall  enjoy  the  kingdom 
in  peace  unless  he  repent."f 

In  Germany  the  sense  of  horror  was  hardly  less  than  in 
England.  The  Emperor  Maximilian  II.  thus  expressed  his 
feelings  on  the  matter :  "  As  for  that  strange  action  so  tyran- 
nically committed  upon  the  admiral  and  his  confederates,  I 
can  by  no  means  approve  it,  and  it  is  with  great  sorrow 
of  heart  I  am  informed  that  my  son-in-law  suffered  himself 
to  consent  to  so  foul  a  massacre.  Now,  though  I  know  that 
others  govern  more  than  he,  yet  that  will  not  excuse  the  fact 
or  palliate  the  villainy.  .  .  .  He  has  so  stained  his  honor  with 
this  piece  of  work,  that  he  will  not  easily  wash  out  the  spot. 


*  Burghley  to  Wnlsinglmm,  September  9,  1572,  in  Digges,  p.  247. 
+  M'Crie :  Life  of  Knox  (1841),  p.  337. 


470  MASSACEE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

May  God  forgive  those  who  have  had  a  hand  in  it ;  for  I  very 
much  apprehend  that  in  course  of  time  the  same  treatment 
will  be  returned  for  them.  Matters  of  religion  are  not  to  be 
ordered  or  decided  by  the  sword."  *  When  Henry  of  Anjou 
was  on  the  way  to  Poland,  he  stopped  at  Heidelberg,  where 
the  elector-palatine,  when  showing  him  over  the  castle,  drew 
his  attention  to  tAVO  pictures:  one  a  portrait  of  Coligny, 
another  a  representation  of  his  death.  "  Of  all  the  French 
nobles  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  know,"  said  he, "  I 
esteem  the  original  of  this  portrait  to  have  been  the  most 
zealous  for  the  glory  and  welfare  of  his  country,  and  his  loss  is 
a  public  calamity  which  his  most  Christian  majesty  will  never 
be  able  to  repair." 

*  Brandt :  Hist.  Rff.  of  Low  Countries  (Chamberlaync's  transl.),  fol.  Lond. 
1720,  vol.  i.  p.  329. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  471 


CHAPTER  XY. 

THE  CLOSING  SCENE. 

[1572-1574] 

Reaction — Tolerant  Protestations  of  Government — Walsingham's  disbelief 
and  caution — Renewal  of  Civil  War — Mission  of  Cardinal  Orsini — Siege 
of  Rochelle — Honorable  terras  of  Capitulation — Siege  of  Sancerre — Fam- 
ine— Horrible  scenes — Capitulation — Meeting  at  Montanban — Troubled 
state  of  France — Intrigues  of  Alen9on — Shrove-Tuesday  plot — La  Mole 
and  Coconnas  executed — Charles  falls  ill — Conversation  with  Henry  of 
Navarre — Charles's  visions — His  Huguenot  nurse — Her  exhortation's — The 
King's  remorse — His  dying  words — Suspicions  of  Poison — His  character 
— His  married  life — Judgment  of  Posterity. 

THE  story  of  the  massacre  has  been  told,  but  this  history 
would  be  incomplete  if  it  were  not  continued  to  the  death  of 
the  principal  character  in  that  memorable  tragedy.  As  kings 
are  esteemed  great  and  glorious  by  the  noble  deeds  done  in 
their  reigns,  so  must  they  bear  the  odium  of  the  crimes  perpe- 
trated under  the  cloak  of  their  authority.  A  few  pages  will 
suffice  for  a  brief  record  of  the  last  twenty  months  of  the  life 
of  the  most  wretched  Charles. 

The  court  had  gained  nothing  by  their  treachery.  The 
German  Protestant  powers  were  alienated,  and  the  English 
nation  shrank  in  horror  from  the  French  alliance.  Charles 
must  now  conciliate  Spain,  a  power  which  he  had  always  dis- 
liked, and  which  he  now  hated  with  all  the  intensity  of  impo- 
tence. Besides  Avhich,  a  reaction  had  set  in :  the  influence  of 
the  Moderate  party  once  more  began  to  be  felt.  "  This  man- 
ner of  proceeding,"  wrote  Walsingham,  on  the  13th  Septem- 
ber, "is  by  the  Catholics  themselves  utterly  condemned." 
Cardinal  Fabio  Orsini  (Des  Ursins),  whom  the  pope  had  sent 
to  congratulate  the  king  on  the  massacre,  and  urge  him  to 


472  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

accept  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  was  surprised  to 
find  that  the  atrocities  of  Axigust  were  not  thought  of  so  high- 
ly in  France  as  at  Rome.  The  general  feelings  of  the  people, 
which  had  been  surprised,  had  recovei'ed  their  sway,  and  they 
were  ashamed  of  themselves  and  of  their  rulers,  who  had 
played  upon  their  loyalty. 

Catherine  had  gained  nothing.  She  was  so  entirely  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Guise  faction,  which  consisted  of  all  that  was 
most  violent  in  France,  that  she  was  forced  to  follow  where 
they  led.  She  was  fully  conscious  of  the  terrible  mistake  she 
had  made,  and  bitterly  must  she  have  repented  it  in  after 
years ;  but  now  her  sole  aim  was  to  re-assure  the  disheartened 
Huguenots,  and  soften  the  impression  which  the  news  of  the 
massacre  had  created  in  foreign  courts.  Her  embassador  in 
London  was  instructed  to  make  the  most  lavish  protestations 
of  tolerance ;  and  in  Paris  both  Catherine  and  Charles  tried  to 
convince  Walsingham  that  they  were  hurried  away  to  the 
committal  of  a  deed  necessary  to  their  safety,  but  entirely  un- 
connected with  religion.  The  far-seeing  Englishman  was  not 
to  be  deceived  by  their  fair  professions ;  but  wrote  home  again 
and  again,  that  "now  there  is  neither  regard  had  to  word, 
writing,  or  edict,"  and  that  "  nothing  is  meant  but  extremity 
toward  those  of  the  religion."  * 

During  the  massacre  and  for  some  time  after  it,  the  Hugue- 
nots were  so  panic-stricken  that  they  seemed  incapable  of  the 
commonest  actions  for  preserving  their  lives.  But  as  soon  as 
they  recovered  from  their  consternation,  they  once  more  ran 
to  arms,  and  France  was  again  exposed  to  the  very  evils  which 
the  massacre  was  intended  to  make  impossible.  Civil  war 
now  became  justifiable  in  the  eyes  of  the  Reformed  party ;  for 
horrible  as  it  might  be  to  draw  the  sword  against  a  brother, 
it  seemed  less  horrible  than  to  sit  still  and  suffer  that  brother 
to  cut  your  throat.  They  were  not  fighting  against  the  crown, 
but  against  a  tyrant  who  had  stained  his  hands  with  the  blood 

*  Walsingham  to  Smith,  IGth  and  24th  September. 


MASSACKE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  473 

of  his  people.  It  was  a  nice  distinction,  but  distinctions 
equally  nice  were  drawn  at  the  commencement  of  our  Great 
Rebellion.  Each  party  strove  to  justify  their  appeal  to  arms 
by  showing  that  law  and  justice  were  on  their  side.  When 
the  citizens  of  Nismes  were  summoned  to  admit  the  royal 
troops,  they  were  told  that  firmness  alone  could  save  them, 
and  they  kept  their  gates  shut.  Rochelle  and  Sancerre,  Au- 
benas,  Sommieres,  Milhaud,  Anduze,  and  scores  of  other  towns, 
large  and  small,  did  the  same,  so  that  in  a  short  time  the  whole 
country  from  the  Channel  to  the  Mediterranean  was  again  di- 
vided into  two  hostile  camps.  The  Protestants  were  so  exas- 
perated and  so  desperate,  that  compromise  seemed  impossible. 
Unhappily,  most  of  their  leaders  had  perished  in  the  massacre. 
La  Xoue  was  still  left  them — himself  a  host ;  but  Henry  of 
Xavarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  were  prisoners  at  court. 
Still  there  was  no  shrinking  from  the  unequal  strife :  the  Hu- 
guenot veterans  left  their  farms  and  their  shops,  and  rallied 
round  the  gentry  of  their  neighborhood.  But  their  force  was 
small,  while  the  king  was  soon  able  to  put  four  armies  in  the 
field,  one  of  which  was  marched  against. Sancerre,  and  another 
against  Rochelle.  Biron,  and  afterward  Anjou,  commanded 
the  latter,  which  was  by  far  the  best  appointed.  It  was  com- 
posed of  veteran  troops,  and  counted  the  Dukes  of  Guise  and 
Alen9on,  Henry  and  Conde,  among  its  officers. 

Rochelle  was  admirably  adapted  for  a  place  of  refuge  where 
the  Huguenots  could  make  a  last  stand  in  defense  of  religious 
freedom.  On  the  land  side  it  was  protected  by  marshes,  which 
allowed  of  only  one  narrow  approach  from  the  north.  Toward 
the  sea  it  was  hardly  more  accessible.  The  stormy  nature  of 
the  coast  prevented  a  successful  blockade,  and  the  gales  that 
drove  off  a  hostile  fleet  were  favorable  to  the  entrance  of 
friends.  The  city  itself  Avas  fortified  according  to  the  best 
rules  of  the  military  art  of  that  day,  with  broad  ditches,  thick 
ramparts,  and  threatening  bastions.  But  strong  as  it  was  by 
its  position  among  the  marshes  of  Poitou,  it  had  been  made 
stronger  still  during  the  interval  left  its  inhabitants  by  the  tar- 


474  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

cly  and  irresolute  movements  of  the  court.  The  garrison  con- 
sisted of  1500  veteran  soldiers  and  2000  well-trained  citizens, 
the  stores  of  all  kinds  were  ample,  and  aid  was  coming  from 
England.  The  commander  of  the  city  was  the  brave  and  up- 
right La  Noue — the  chevalier  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche  of 
the  Huguenot  party,  and  not  unworthy  successor  of  the  great 
Coligny.  Being  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Alva  at  the  time 
of  the  massacre,  he  fortunately  escaped  death ;  and,  on  his  res- 
toration to  liberty,  he  went  to  court,  where  the  king  received 
him  with  open  arms  and  gave  him  the  confiscated  estates  of 
Teligny.  When  the  Rochellers  closed  their  gates,  he  was 
commissioned  by  Charles  IX.  to  treat  with  them  and  try  to 
procure  their  submission.  The  result  was  not  what  the  king 
expected,  for  La  Noue  joined  the  citizens,  and  was  made  goA'- 
ernor.  Here,  while  fighting  bravely  and  doing  his  best  to 
preserve  the  city,  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  recommend- 
ing conciliatory  measures. 

The  Catholic  party  made  it  a  point  of  honor  .to  reduce  the 
capital  of  Protestantism.  The  siege  was  begun  with  a  vigor 
that  would  have  honored  a  better  cause.  From  the  hills 
which  commanded  the  defenses  a  continual  storm  of  fire  was 
poured  upon  the  devoted  city.  Assault  after  assault  was  gal- 
lantly made  and  repelled  with  equal  spirit  and  determination. 
Even  the  women  mounted  the  walls,  cheering  the  combatants, 
tending  the  wounded,  carrying  ammunition,  water  and  food 
to  the  soldiers,  and  sometimes  with  a  boldness  beyond  their 
sex  wielding  the  weapons  that  had  fallen  from  dying  hands. 
These  alone,  occasionally  aided  by  the  ministers,  hurled  from 
huge  caldrons  floods  of  boiling  water  and  melted  pitch  upon 
the  assailants  in  the  breach.  For  five  months  Anjou  attacked 
the  place  in  vain — each  month  diminishing  the  ardor  of  the 
besiegers. 

The  siege  would  probably  have  been  more  closely  pressed 
(instead  of  being  relaxed)  as  time  went  on,  had  there  been 
unity  of  purpose  in  the  royal  army.  Cabals  were  formed 
among  the  officers,  some  of  whom  refused  to  obey  the  orders 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  475 

of  a  man  who  was  openly  charged  with  the  murder  of  the  ad- 
miral. Strange  stories  circulated  through  the  camp.  Men 
told  one  another  with  a  shudder  how  one  day,  when  the  Duke 
of  Guise  was  playing  at  hazard,  blood  dropped  from  his  hand 
as  he  threw  the  dice  on  the  table.*  But  there  was  perfect 
harmony  among  the  besieged,  although  La  None  had  quitted 
the  city  where  his  courage,  military  ability,  and  simple  char- 
acter had  been  poorly  appreciated.  The  pastors  and  he  were 
constantly  at  variance ;  they  thwarted  his  plans  and  excited 
the  people  against  him.  Brave  as  were  the  Rochellers,  they 
must  have  yielded  at  last  but  for  the  election  of  Anjou  to  the 
crown  of  Poland.  This  made  him  listen  readily  to  pacific 
counsels,  and  on  the  llth  July,  1573,  a  treaty  was  concluded 
by  which  the  inhabitants  surrendered  on  the  following  condi- 
tions :  That  there  should  be  a  complete  amnesty  for  the  past ; 
that  the  cities  of  Montauban,  Nismes,  and  La  Rochelle  should 
retain  their  old  privileges ;  that  the  Reformed  should  enjoy 
freedom  of  worship,  provided  they  met  in  small  numbers  and 
unarmed ;  that  the  gentry  might  celebrate  marriages  and  bap- 
tisms in  their  own  houses,  provided  not  more  than  ten  per- 
sons were  present ;  that  all  prisoners  for  religious  offenses 
should  be  set  at  large ;  and  that  all  who  desired  to  leave  the 
kingdom  might  sell  their  goods  freely  and  go  Avhere  they 
pleased,  except  into  enemy's  country.  Such  good  terms  might 
not  have  been  obtained  but  for  two  things :  the  siege  had  cost 
40,000  men  in  battle  or  by  disease,  and  the  king  had  neither 
money  nor  credit  to  pay  his  troops. 

When  the  inhabitants  of  Sancerre  heard  that  they  were  not 
included  in  the  treaty  of  Rochelle,  they  determined  to  perish 
rather  than  surrender.  The  little  town  was  excepted,  because 
the  Catholics  imagined  its  fall  to  be  near  and  inevitable ;  but 
another  motive  was  assigned,  namely,  that  as  the  city  belonged 
to  a  particular  seigneur,  the  king  (who  had  suddenly  become 

*  Ranke :  Franz.  Gesch.  t.  iv.  ch.  4.  This  is  said  in  one  account  to  hare 
occurred  on  the  eve  of  the  massacre,  when  he  was  playing  with  Henry  of 
Navarre.  St.  Foix  :  Essais  hist,  siir  Paris,  i.  74. 


476  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

scrupulous)  would  not  prejudice  the  rights  of  the  superior 
lord.  In  January,  1573,  an  army  of  5000  infantry,  500  horse, 
and  1600  sappers  sat  down  before  this  petty  town,  whose  gar- 
rison consisted  of  about  800  men.  After  summoning  the 
place  to  surrender,  La  Chatre  opened  the  trenches,  and  from 
two  batteries  of  sixteen  guns  discharged  2000  shot  in  two 
months.  By  the  middle  of  March  he  had  made  a  breach  300 
paces  wide,  but  failed  to  carry  it  by  storm.  Drawing  his  lines 
still  closer,  he  entirely  cut  off  all  external  relief,  so  that  in  the 
beginning  of  April  the  towns-folk  began  to  run  short  of  food. 
They  eat  the  asses  and  mules,  and  afterward  fell  to  horses, 
dogs,  cats,  mice,  moles,  and  leather,  and,  sinking  lower  still, 
tried  horns,  harness,  wild  roots,  and  parchment.  "  I  have  seen 
some  served  up,"  writes  an  eye-witness, "  on  which  the  writing 
was  still  visible,. and  one  might  read  from  the  pieces  placed 
upon  the  table  to  be  eaten."  By  the  end  of  June,  three-fourths 
of  the  inhabitants  had  no  bread  to  eat.  Some  attempted  sub- 
stitutes of  flax-seed,  others  of  all  kinds  of  herbs,  mixed  with 
bran,  others  even  tried  straw,  nut-shells,  and  slate,  by  which 
the  stomach  was  distended  and  the  pangs  of  hunger  were 
temporarily  assuaged.  Grease  and  tallow  served  for  soups 
and  for  frying :  "  Yea,  some  (a  strange  thing  and  never  heard 
of)  labored  to  encounter  the  cruelty  of  their  hunger  by  the  ex- 
crements of  horses  and  men."  But  there  is  worse  to  be  told. 
On  the  19th  June  a  laboring  man  and  his  wife  "satisfied 
their  hunger  with  the  head  and  entrails  of  their  young 
daughter,  about  three  years  old."  They  were  tried  and  exe- 
cuted for  the  murder,  for  which  there  was  the  less  excuse,  as 
that  very  day  they  had  been  "  relieved  with  a  pottage  made 
of  herbs  and  wine."  *  The  young  children  under  twelve  al- 
most all  died.  A  boy  only  ten  years  old,  seeing  his  parents 

*  Agrippa  d'Aubignc,  unless  he  refers  to  another  story,  says  the  child  was 
"disinterred  and  then  devoured"  by  its  parents,  who  were  condemned,  the 
man  to  be  burned  alive,  and  the  woman  to  be  hanged.  See  also  Mem.  Ktat. 
de  France,  ii.  224.  Jean  de  Leri :  Hist.  Sieye  de  R.\  Paris:  Cab,  Hist.  vii. 
There  is  a  Latin  version,  Heidelbg.  157G. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  477 

weeping  over  him,  said :  "  Mother,  why  do  you  cry  because  I 
am  hungry  ?  I  do  not  ask  you  for  bread,  for  I  know  you 
have  none.  But  as  it  is  God's  will  that  I  should  die,  I  must 
be  content.  Did  not  holy  Lazarus  suffer  hunger?"  And 
with  these  words,  adds  De  Serres, "  he  gave  back  his  soul  to 
God."  The  historian  sums  up  in  this  short  but  pregnant  sen- 
tence: "During  the  siege,  fourscore  men  died  by  the  sword, 
but  of  starvation  above  five  hundred."  On  the  19th  August, 
through  the  intervention  of  the  Polish  deputies,  the  in- 
habitants were  granted  honorable  terms  of  capitulation.* 

But  the  Huguenots  were  not  intimidated.  On  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  massacre  in  Paris,  they  assembled  at  Montauban, 
and  demanded  the  strict  fulfillment  of  the  treaty  of  St.  Ger- 
niains.  They  went  farther,  indeed,  and  required,  among 
other  things,  that  the  open  exercise  of  their  religion  should  be 
permitted  everywhere  in  France ;  that  they  should  pay  tithes 
to  their  own  ministers  only ;  that  such  of  the  clergy  as  had 
embraced  the  Reformed  doctrines  and  married  should  be  al- 
lowed the  privileges  of  citizenship ;  that  the  authors  and  per- 
petrators of  the  August  massacres  should  be  punished ;  and 
that  a  parliament  or  supreme  court  of  justice,  composed  of 
Huguenots  only,  should  be  appointed  to  try  all  causes  in  which 
they  were  concerned. 

"When  their  petition  was  presented  to  the  king,  he  listened 
and  made  no  remark ;  but  Catherine  haughtily  replied :  "  If 
Conde  were  alive  and  in  the  heart  of  France  with  100,000 
horse  and  foot,  he  would  not  ask  one-half  of  what  these  people 
demand."  Their  prayer  was  refused ;  and  had  it  been  grant- 
ed, we  may  doubt  whether  the  condition  of  the  Huguenots 
would  have  been  much  improved.  France  seemed  to  be  giv- 
en over  to  all  the  evils  that  misgovernment,  which  is  rarely 
unaccompanied  with  other  and  more  damning  vices,  can  bring 
upon  a  nation.  Although  the  Duke  of  Anjou  had  been  elect- 


*  Discount  de  Fextreme  Famine,  etc.  par  Jean  Leri :  Arc/lives  curieuses,  viii. 
p.  19.     Mem.  Etat  (Je  France,  ii.  219  b  (ed.  1578). 


478  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

ed  King  of  Poland,  and  had  departed  for  his  kingdom,  his 
evil  influence  remained  behind.  The  court  was  the  arena  of 
the  most  disgraceful  intrigues :  honor  among  men,  chastity 
among  women,  had  become  unmeaning  words.  The  Duke  of 
Aleii9on,  a  poor  weak  fool,  gaming  courage  by  the  absence  of 
the  more  resolute  Anjou,  entered  into  all  sorts  of  schemes  to 
prevent  his  brother's  return  to  France  and  secure  the  rever- 
sion of  Charles's  throne  to  himself.  Two  parties  looked  up  to 
him  as  their  head ;  the  Politicians  and  the  Huguenots.  The 
threads  of  the  intrigues,  in  which  he  was  a  mere  stalking- 
horse,  are  difficult  to  unravel,  and  it  is  scarcely  within  the 
scope  of  this  history  to  make  the  attempt.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  the  result  was  a  plot  for  a  general  rising  of  the  Hu- 
guenot party  on  Shrove-Tuesday,  22d  February,  1574,  with 
the  object  of  driving  Catherine  from  court,  excluding  Anjou 
from  the  succession,  and  making  Monsieur — as  Alen§on  was 
now  called — lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom  and  heir  to  the 
throne.  Great  was  the  consternation  at  St.  Germains  when 
the  news  arrived  that  La  Noue  had  surprised  Lusignan ;  that 
Fontenay,  Royau,  Talmont,  Coulombier,  and  other  places  had 
opened  their  gates  to  the  Huguenots ;  and  that  a  body  of  cav- 
alry under  Guitry  was  almost  at  the  palace  gates.  All  fled ; 
Charles  alone  refusing  to  move  :  "  Why  could  they  not  have 
waited  for  my  death?"  he  asked,  as  he  lay  on  his  sick-bed — 
to  him  the  bed  of  death.  The  ministers  and  their  followers 
hurried  away  as  soon  as  possible,  some  in  disguise,  some  by 
land,  others  by  the  river,  others  by  circuitous  routes.  Agrip- 
pa  d'Aubigne  gives  an  amusing  though  exaggerated  de- 
scription of  the  "  flight  of  the  courtiers."  It  was  a  race  who 
should  reach  Paris  first,  he  says.  "  Half-way  from  St.  Ger- 
mains, the  cardinals  of  Bourbon,  Lorraine,  and  Guise,  with 
Birague  the  chancellor  and  Morvilliers,  were  met  mounted  on 
spirited  chargers,  grasping  the  pommels  of  their  saddles  to 
keep  themselves  steady;  and  feeling  as  much  affrighted  at 
their  horses  as  they  did  at  the  enemy.  They  were  followed 
by  two  retainers  only  of  all  their  sumptuous  trains."  The 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  479 

movement  ended  in  complete  failure,  and  cost  the  lives  of  sev- 
eral persons,  the  best  known  being  La  Mole  and  Coconnas, 
whose  fate  alone  has  rescued  them  from  oblivion.  Joseph 
Boniface,  Lord  of  La  Mole,  was  a  vain,  frivolous  intriguer, 
whom  Charles  IX.  so  detested  that  he  is  reported  to  have 
twice  commanded  Anjou  to  strangle  the  wretched  sycophant 
who  preyed  upon  the  weakness  of  Alen9on.*  He  is  said  also 
to  have  been  in  the  good  graces  of  Queen  Margaret,  who  de- 
sired his  bleeding  head  to  be  brought  to  her.  On  seeing  the 
hideous  sight,  she  burst  into  a  violent  transport  of  rage  and 
grief,  kissing  the  lifeless  features  and  bathing  them  with 
her  tears.f  Coconnas  Avas  a  Piedmontese  noble  and  cap- 
tain of  the  guard  to  Monsieur.  When  on  the  scaffold,  he 
stamped  with  vexation,  exclaiming  to  the  spectators:  "You 
see  how  it  is ;  the  little  ones  are  caught,  and  the  big  ones 
are  left."  There  was  an  attempt  to  implicate  Henry  of  Na- 
varre in  the  plot ;  and  though  it  failed,J  he  was  still  kept 
prisoner  at  the  court.  Marshals  Montmorency  and  Cosse 
were  in  like  manner  detained  in  the  Bastile  for  many 
months.  The  charlatan  Ruggieri,  who  lent  himself  to  any 
vile  scheme,  was  sent  to  the  galleys,  but  was  soon  released 
by  Catherine,  and  rewarded  by  the  gift  of  the  rich  abbey  of 
St.  Mahe. 

But  the  end  was  at  hand.  Charles,  whose  health  had  been 
slowly  declining  since  the  massacre,  now  became  seriously  ill. 
He  suffered  extreme  pain,  and  had  frequent  fainting  fits;  yet 
from,  hatred  of  Anjou  and  abhorrence  of  his  mother,  he  still 
clung  to  the  royal  power.  A  few  days  before  his  death,  when 
the  English  embassador,  Ley  ton,  arrived  at  Vincennes,  he  in- 

*  Among  other  charges,  La  Mole  was  accused  of  endeavoring  to  destroy 
the  king's  life  by  witchcraft ;  by  means  of  a  waxen  image  having  a  needle 
pierced  through  the  heart,  which  an  Italian  astrologer,  Cosmo  Ruggieri, 
had  prepared  for  him. 

t  "  Mollis  vita,  mollior  intcritus."    Punning  epitaph  on  La  Mole. 

J  His  defense  was  written  by  his  wife  Margaret,  "  God  giving  her  the 
grace  to  compose  it."  M€motres. 


480  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

sisted  upon  giving  him  audience,  and  for  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  listened  patiently  to  the  envoy's  harangue,  replying 
to  it  in  a  few  pertinent  remarks.  Much  of  his  suffering  was 
mental ;  his  conscience  was  smitten  with  an  incurable  wound. 
As  he  felt  his  last  fatal  illness  coming  on,  he  sent  for  Henry 
of  Navarre,  who  had  to  pass  through  the  vaults  of  the  castle 
between  a  double  line  of  guards  under  arms  ready  to  dispatch 
him.  Henry  started  back  a  few  paces,  clapped  his  hand  on 
his  sword,  and  refused  to  advance.  It  was  a  sensational  trick 
of  Catherine's.  Being  assured  there  was  no  danger,  he  pro- 
ceeded and  entered  the  king's  room,  where  Charles  received 
him  affectionately.  "  I  have  always  loved  you,"  he  said ; 
"  and  to  your  care  I  confide  my  wife  and  daughter — I  com- 
mend them  to  your  love."  The  king  went  on  cautioning  him 
to  distrust  — :  the  name  was  not  distinctly  heard  by  the  per- 
sons in  the  chamber;  but  Catherine,  who  still  hovered  like 
an  evil  genius  over  her  son,  remarked:  "Sire,  you  should 
not  say  that."  "Why  not?"  asked  Charles,  "is  it  not 
true  ?"  Probably  he  was  speaking  of  his  brother  of  Anjou. 
Henry  had  no  opportunity  of  obeying  the  king's  dying  in- 
junctions :  the  child  did  not  live,  and  the  mother  returned  to 
Germany. 

Charles  could  not  sleep  at  night,  and  often  when  he  had 
closed  his  eyes"  from  very  weakness,  he  would  start  up,  ex- 
claiming that  he  heard  strange  sounds  in  the  air.  Music  was 
employed  to  soothe  his  irritability,  and  the  voice  of  his  fa- 
vorite chorister,  Lassus,  or  fitienne  le  Hoi,  chanting  the  peni- 
tential Psalms,  often  lulled  him  to  sleep.  He  saw  nothing 
but  blood  around  him,  and  the  ghosts  of  those  he  had  caused 
to  be  murdered  stood  threateningly  at  his  bedside.  As  his 
malady  increased,  he  began  to  spit  and  vomit  blood ;  and  in 
the  paroxysms  of  his  pain,  the  blood  would  ooze  through  his 
skin  at  every  pore* — a  symptom  which  the  Huguenots  re- 
garded as  a  mark  of  the  divine  displeasure. 

*  This  bloody  sweat  is  an  ordinary  though  rare  pathological  phenomenon. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  481 

His  nurse,  Philippe  Richarde,  was  a  Huguenot,  who  had 
reared  him  when  an  infant,  and  whom  he  loved  to  the  last. 
One  night  as  she  sat  watching  by  his  bedside,  she  heard  him 
sobbing,  and  as  she  drew  aside  the  curtains  to  learn  what 
was  the  matter,  he  exclaimed  through  his  tears :  "  Oh  nurse, 
my  dear  nurse,  what  bloodshed  and  murder !  Oh !  that  I 
should  have  followed  such  wicked  advice.  Pardon  me,  O 
God,  and  have  mercy  on  me.  .  .  .  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  am 
lost.  .  .  I  am  lost."  The  nurse  soothed  him,  and  bade  him 
trust  in  the  Lord.  "  The  blood  is  upon  those  who  caused 
you  to  shed  it,"  she  added.  "If  you  repent  of  the  murders, 
God  will  not  impute  them  to  you,  but  cover  them  with 
the  mantle  of  his  Son's  righteousness,  in  which  alone  you 
must  seek  refuge.  But  for  God's  sake  let  your  majesty 
cease  weeping."  Hereupon  she  went  to  get  a  dry  hand- 
kerchief, for  the  king's  was  all  wet  with  tears.  When  he 
had  taken  it,  he  made  a  sign  to  her  to  go  away  and  let  him 
sleep.* 

The  next  day  Catherine  hurried  into  the  sick-chamber  with 
good  news :  Montgomery  was  a  prisoner  in  her  hands — Mont- 
gomery, whom  she  had  never  forgiven  as  the  innocent  cause 
of  her  husband's  death.  But  to  Charles  all  such  earthly  pas- 
sions were  now  indifferent.  "  Madame,"  he  said  to  his  moth- 
er, "  such  things  affect  me  no  longer :  I  am  dying."  On 
Whitsunday,  30th  May,  1574,  Charles  received  the  last  rites 
of  the  Church  from  the  hands  of  Sorbin  and  the  learned  Am- 
yot,  Bishop  of  Auxerre.f  Catherine,  Alenyon,  Henry,  and 

Dr.  Bourdin  describes  the  case  of  a  farm-servant,  thirty-three  years  old, 
from  whose  forehead  blood  suddenly  began  to  issue  and  continued  to  flow 
for  half  an  hour  (April,  1859).  In  No.  40  of  the  Gazette  Ilebdomadaire 
(1859),  Dr.  Jules  Parrot  gives  the  case  of  a  lady  who  had  suffered  from 
these  hemorrhages  from  six  years  of  age,  and  which  continued  after  her 
marriage.  Chemical  analysis  and  microscopic  examination  combine  to 
prove  that  the  liquid  thus  secreted  is  truly  blood. 

*  Journal  de  L'Estoile.  I  am  afraid  the  authority  is  not  very  good.  See 
also  Peleus :  Vie  de  Henri  IV.  ii.  pp.  385-390. 

t  Better  known  as  the  translator  of  Plutarch  than  ns  Grand  Almoner  of 
France. 

HH 


482  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Margaret,  with  the  officers  of  state,  were  present,  and  par- 
took of  the  consecrated  elements.  It  does  not  appear  that 
his  queen  was  there,  but  we  learn  that  she  was  often  seen 
kneeling,  and  in  tears,  before  the  altar  of  the  castle  chapel, 
where  "  she  was  still  to  be  found  when  the  soul  of  her  hus- 
band and  lord  passed  from  this  Avorld."  After  confession, 
Charles  rallied  a  little,  and  had  strength  to  direct  his  minis- 
ters to  obey  the  queen-mother  as  they  would  have  obeyed 
himself.  But  his  weakness  soon  returned  :  he  breathed  with 
such  difficulty  that  he  could  scarcely  bid  a  tender  farewell  to 
his  mother,  after  which  he  faintly  whispered :  "  If  Jesus  my 
Saviour  should  number  me  among  his  redeemed !" — a  late 
and  involuntary  testimony  to  the  exhortations  of  his  pious 
nurse.  Thrice  he  repeated  these  words,  and  then  spoke  no 
more. 

There  were  rumors  of  poison,  and  people  remembered  how 
Catherine,  in  bidding  farewell  to  Anjou,  told  him  to  be  of 
good  cheer,  for  he  would  not  be  away  long.  Poisoning  in 
that  day  had  been  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  science ;  and  ig- 
norant as  the  alchemists  were  of  the  true  principles  of  their 
art,  they  had  extorted  certain  secrets  from  nature  which  mod- 
ern chemists  can  not  recover.  The  criminal  annals  of  recent 
years  do  not  permit  us  to  doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  slow  poison- 
ing ;  and  the  symptoms  under  which  Charles  suffered  strong- 
ly remind  us  of  those  produced  by  minute  doses  of  hemlock 
alternating  with  arsenic.  Unfortunately,  in  those  days,  de- 
tection was  difficult,  because  tests  for  poison  were  imknown. 
There  were  so  many  interested  in  getting  rid  of  the  king, 
that  his  early  death  was  regarded  as  a  certainty.  If  he  had 
lived,  the  influence  of  his  amiable  wife  might  have  grown 
stronger,  he  might  have  thrown  off  his  mother's  trammels, 
and  placing  himself  in  the  hands  of  the  Politicians,  might 
have  driven  Catherine  and  her  friends  from  power.  Then 
what  would  have  become  of  Henry  of  Anjou,  now  reigning  in 
barbarous  and  distant  Poland  ?  Ambrose  Pare  declared  the 
king's  death  was  caused  by  injuries  done  to  his  lungs  from 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  483 

the  immoderate  use  of  his  hunting-horn  in  the  chase.*  The 
explanation  was  rejected  at  the  time,  and  although  we  are  un- 
willing to  believe  that  a  mother  would  coldly  speculate  upon 
the  death  of  her  son  and  connive  at  his  murder,  Catherine 
never  was  the  woman  to  allow  scruples  of  conscience  or  mo- 
rality to  stand  in  her  way.  There  is  a  well-known  anecdote 
of  Louis  XIII.,  who,  on  being  cautioned  against  too  violent 
exercise  and  frequent  use  of  the  hunting-horn,  replied: 
"  Stuff  !  Charles  IX.  died  after  dining  with  Gondi,  immedi- 
ately after  a  quarrel  with  his  mother." 

Thus  died  Charles  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-four,  rejoic- 
ing that  he  had  left  no  son  to  wear  that  crown  which  had 
wrought  him  so  much  sorrow ;  for,  he  added  from  his  own 
bitter  experience,  "  France  needs  a  man  to  govern  her,  and 
not  a  babe  in  swaddling-clothes,  with  a  woman  for  his  sup- 
port."* How  differently  soever  his  character  may  be  esti- 
mated by  different  writers,  there  are  some  points  on  which 
all  must  agree.  His  virtues  were  his'  own,  his  vices  the  re- 
sult of  his  training.f  He  had  a  great  capacity  of  affection. 
His  mistress,  Marie  Touchet,  and  the  boy  she  bore  him  were 
anxiously  cared  for  as  he  lay  dying.  His  love  for  his  mother 
was  strong,  but  mingled  with  fear :  he  submitted  to  her,  not 
merely  as  the  weak  mind  submits  to  the  stronger,  but  be- 
cause he  felt  that  she  loved  him  after  her  animal  fashion,  and 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  honor  her.  "We  know  but  little  of  his 

*  The  nuncio  wrote  to  the  pope  that  Charles  was  killing  himself  with  the 
chase  ;  that  he  had  nearly  killed  5000  dogs  and  broken  the  wind  of  all  his 
horses,  valued  at  30,000  francs.     Salviati  Cavalli  writes  to  the  same  effect : 
"mal  modo  di  vivere,"etc.      See  Drelincourt :  Libitinae  Trophcea.  Lugd. 
Bat.  1680.     He  broke  out  in  large  pustules  and  buboes  nil  over  his  body  : 
Villegomblain.     His  stomach  was  covered  with  livid  spots  :  De  Thou. 

*  There  is  an  old  prophecy :  "  Vse  et  iterum  vac  !  quando  pucr  sedebit  in 
sede  lilii." 

t  His  first  tutors  were  the  virtuous  Carnavalet,  the  learned  Amyot,  and  M. 
de  Cipierre,  a  man  of  antique  type  and  probity.  The  latter  was  succeeded 
by  Gondi,  "  fin,  corrompu,  menteur,"  who  taught  Charles  to  swear  and  blas- 
pheme, "et  le  pcrvertit  du  tout."  Brantome.  "Princcps  praeclara  indole  et 
magnis  virtutibus,  nisi.  .  .  ."  De  Thou. 


484  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 

married  life,  but  from  the  few  glimpses  we  catch  of  it,  he 
seems  to  have  been  attached  to  his  young  wife  Elizabeth,  and 
she  to  him.  When  she  heard  of  the  murders  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew's Day,  she  asked,  with  horror  in  every  feature  :  "  Does 
the  king,  my  husband,  know  of  this  ?"  On  being  told  that 
Charles  had  commanded  it,  she  burst  into  tears,  exclaiming : 
"  Oh  God  !  what  councilors  hast  thou  given  him  !  Pardon 
this  crime,  I  implore  thee,  oh  God !  for  if  thou  shouldst  ex- 
act vengeance,  it  is  a  sin  never  to  be  forgiven."  Thereupon 
she  retired  into  her  oratory,  and  passed  the  remainder  of  the 
day  in  prayer,  and  refused  to  join  the  procession  that  trav- 
ersed the  blood-stained  streets.  There  are  coarse  stories  re- 
corded of  the  last  days  of  Charles,  which  (if  they  were  true) 
would  throw  great  doubt  upon  his  conjugal  fidelity ;  but  they 
are  mere  back-stairs  scandal. 

Charles  IX.  was  a  compound  of  the  most  opposite  quali- 
ties. He  was  a  firm  friend  to  the  few  whom  he  loved ;  fond 
of  rough  pleasures ;  not  without  a  taste  for  poetry  and  music, 
and  master  of  that  graceful  eloquence  so  captivating  on  the 
lips  of  princes.  But  he  had  great  defects,  made  greater  by 
the  peculiarity  of  his  character,  which  his  friends,  both  true 
and  false,  knew  so  well  how  to  play  upon.  He  could  be  as 
violent  in  action  as  in  language:  his  anger  was  fearful  to 
withstand.  He  could  be  false  and  treacherous,  so  that  his  ad- 
mirers actually  praise  him  for  his  duplicity.*  A  contempora- 
ry Juvenal  describes  him  as 

Plus  cruel  que  Neron,  plus  ruse  que  Tibere  .  .  . 
Sans  parole,  sans  foi,  sinon  a  se  venger, 
Execrable  joueur  et  public  adultere  .  .  . 
II  mourut  enferme'  comme  un  chien  enrage. 

For  three  hundred  years  Charles  has  been  the  execration 
of  mankind,  and  after  carefully  weighing  the  evidence  of  con- 
temporaries, the  historian  can  find  no  solid  grounds  for  re- 

*  Among  others  Claude  Haton :  "  fut  line  grace  de  Dieu  comment  Ic  roi 
sut  si  bien  dissimuler." 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  485 

versing  the  judgment.  But  he  was  not  the  chief  criminal. 
French  writers,  even  while  they  condemn  the  barbarous  deed 
that  has  cast  so  foul  a  stain  upon  their  annals,  may  justly 
plead  that  the  chief  contriver  was  an  Italian  woman  brought 
up  in  the  school  of  Machiavelli,  and  that  the  chief  instruments 
Avere  all  foreigners. 


INDEX. 


AGRICULTURE. 


A. 

AGRICULTURE  in  France,  116. 
Agrippa  d'Aubigne,  85. 

his  defense  of  the  war,  200. 
Aix,  Huguenots  hanged  at,  184. 
AIen9on,    Huguenots   uninjured   at, 

448. 

Duke  of,  proposed  as  a  hus- 
band for  Elizabeth,  35G. 
his  partiality  for  Coligny,  435. 
his  intrigues,  478. 
Alessandrino  (nuncio),   audience  at 

Blois,  347. 

failure  of 'his  embassy,  347. 
Alva,  Duke  of,  at  Bayonne,  249. 

his  opinion   on  the   state  of 

France,  253. 

Tarquinian   advice,  255,  272. 
marches   through   Burgundy, 

266. 

liis  opinion  of  Cardinal  Lor- 
raine, 357. 

Amboise,  tumult  of,  81. 
act  of  grace  of,  86. 
pacification  and  edict  of,  224. 
Amiens,  judicious  arrangements  at, 

178. 
Andelot  offends  Henry  II.,  68. 

introduces  reform  in  Brittany, 

91. 

urges  war,  267. 

death  of,  301. 

Angers,  persecutions  at,  34. 

massacre  at,  448. 
Angouleme,  the  bastard  of,  409. 
Anjou,  Prince  of,  threatens  Condd, 

266. 
made  lieutenant-general,  278. 


BATTLE    OF   JARNAC. 

Anjou  commands  royal  army,  294. 
wins  battle  of  Jarnac,  296. 

Moncontour,  305. 
proposed  marriage  with  Eliza- 
beth, 332,  354. 
his  account  of  the  massacre, 

375,   383,    386,    387,   394, 

396,  405,  406. 
his  fear  of  the  king,  376. 
disappointment  at  Maurevel's 

failure,  383. 
visit  to  the  wounded  admiral, 

384. 

share  of  the  plunder,  467. 
scene  with  the  elector-palatine, 

470. 

Anthony  of  Navarre,  66. 
his  hesitation,  103. 
invited  to  Orleans,  105. 
plot  to  murder  him,  108. 
his  apostasy,  185. 
justifies  the  Vassy  massacre, 

190. 

death  of,  215. 
Army,  French,  in  sixteenth  century, 

120. 

Arnay-le-Duc,  battle  of,  312. 
Aurillac,  murders  at,  178. 

Protestant  retaliation,  310. 
Avallon,  chatelaine  of,  239. 


B. 

BANQUET  in  sixteenth  centary,  121. 
Baptisms,  forced,  287. 
Bar,  the  proctor  of,  239. 
Barbeville  burned,  76. 
Battle  of  Dreux,  217. 

St.  Denis,  272. 

Jarnac,  296. 


488 


INDEX. 


BATTLE    OF    ROCIIE-ABEILLE. 

Battle  of  Roche-Abeille,  302. 

Moncontour,  304 

Arnay-le-Duc,  312. 
Bayeux,  Huguenot  sacrilege  at,  240. 
Bayonnc,  the  meeting  at,  248. 

amusements  at,  249. 

diplomatic  discussions  at,  253. 
Bcarnese    refuse     to    suppress     the 

preaching,  445. 
Beauvais,  Easter  riots  at,  15G. 
Behm,  the  admiral's  murderer,  408, 

409. 

Berquin,  Louis  de,  burned,  5. 
Beza  at  Poissy,  167. 

audience    of    queen -mother, 
168. 

address  to  the  king,  1 70. 
Birague,  his  origin,  320. 
Blois,  edict  of,  73. 

violence  of  Huguenots  at,  156. 

cruellies  at  capture  of,  210. 

festivities  at,  347. 
Bois  Aubry,  Abbot  of,  secretary  of 

clergy,  his  speech,  154. 
Bordeaux,  the  massacre  at,  451. 
Bouchavannes,  a  traitor,  402. 
Bricquemaut  of  Villemangis,  execu- 
ted at  Amboise,  82. 
Brigandage  in  France,  115. 
Briquemaut,   Colonel,  his   necklace, 
288. 

rash  language  to  Charles,  341. 

hanged,  442. 
Brissac,  governor  of  Paris,  197. 

death  of,  301. 
Brugiere  burned,  19. 


c. 

CAHORS,  bloody  riot  at,  178. 
Calvin  and  his  Institutes,  6. 

defense  of  Reformers,  10. 

letter  to  the  prisoners,  43. 
Cambresis,  treaty  of,  48. 
Carcassonne,  sacrilege  at,  156. 
Carriages  introduced,  121. 
Castelnau,  trial  and  execution,  82. 
Castelnaudary,  Palm  Sunday  at,  238. 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  early'life,  23. 

skill  in  business,  24. 

grief  at  Henry's  death,  59. 


CATHERINE    DE    MEDICIS. 

Catherine  dc  Medicis,  letter  to  her 
daughter,  146. 

policy,  147. 

instructions  to  Cardinal  Ferra- 
ra,  166. 

letters  to  Rome  and  the  empe- 
ror, 172. 

unpopularity  with  Romanists, 
177. 

bold  reply  to  Chantonnay,  186. 

summons  Comic'  to  her  assist- 
ance, 192. 

defies  Anthony  of  Navarre, 
193. 

message  to  Conde,  198. 

attempts  at  negotiation,  204. 

goes  abroad  masked,  208. 

is  present  at  siege  of  Rouen, 
213. 

exultation  at  victory  of  Dreux, 
219. 

advice  to  Charles,  245. 

diplomacy  at  Bayonne,  248. 

letter  on  the  papal  jurisdiction, 
257. 

suspected  of  heresy,  286. 

desires  treaty  to  be  observed, 
336. 

reception  of  Coligny,  355. 

described  by  Joan  of  Jsavarre, 
349. 

opposes  war  in  Flanders,  362. 

interview  with  Charles  at  Mont- 
pipeau,  363. 

plots  Coligny's  death,  377. 

at  his  bedside,  385. 

plots  a  general  massacre,  383. 

consultation  at  the  Tuileries, 
390. 

reveals  a  pretended  Huguenot 
plot,  394. 

extorts  king's  consent  to  mas- 
sacre, 397. 

checks  the  king's  irresolution, 
405. 

letter  to  Stro/zi,  446. 

message  to  Alva,  460. 

discovers  her  mistake,  472. 

reply  to  the  Montauban  de- 
mands, 477. 

exultation  at  Montgomery's 
capture,  481. 


INDEX. 


Caumont,  Due  de  la  Force,  his  singu- 
lar escape,  432. 
Cavaignes  hanged,  442. 
Cevennes,  march  through  the,  312. 
Chabot  protects  the  Huguenots,  45G. 
Chambord,  ordinance  of,  78. 
Chambres  ardentes,  33. 
Chantonnay  complains  of  toleration, 

161. 

Chapot,  Jean,  on  the  rack,  16. 
Charles  IX.,  his  accession,  145. 

opens  the  States-General,  150. 
amnesties  heretical  prisoners, 

157. 
issues  letters  patent  of  April, 

157. 

acts  in  a  court  masque,  161. 
presides  over  colloquy  of  Pois- 

sy,  169. 
calls  an  Assembly  of  Notables, 

175. 
Triumvirate  plot  to  seize  him, 

192. 
brought  from  Fontaineblcau  to 

Paris,  193. 
declared  of  age,  244. 
reply  to  Alva,  256,  265,  323. 
reproaches  Coligny,  264. 
plot  to  seize  king,  269. 
savage  letter  to  Gordes,  271. 
letters  to  Conde  and  Humieres, 

284,  317. 
at  siege  of  St.  Joan  d'Angely, 

307. 

advice  to  justices  of  Gap,  317. 
marriage,  322,  324. 
mad  sports,  323. 
La  Chasse  Royale,  323. 
supports  William  of  Orange, 

331. 

invites  Coligny  to  court,  333. 
distrust  of  Anjou,  334. 
attachment  to  Teligny,  334. 
reception  of  Coligny,  336. 
letter  to  Duke  of  Savoy,  337. 
reception  of  Queen  Joan,  345. 
answer  to  Alessandrino,  347. 
letter  to  Pius  V.  on  Margaret's 

marriage,  351. 
promises  help  to  Prince  Louis, 

358. 
goes  to  Montpipeau,  362. 


Charles  IX.  offers  Coligny  a  guard, 
376,  403. 

jealous  of  Anjou,  377. 

wrath  on  hearing  of  attack  on 
Coligny,  318. 

threatens  to  punish  the  assas- 
sins, 382. 

visits  Coligny,  384. 

tells  his  mother  what  Coligny 
said  to  him,  387. 

letters  to  pacifv  the  Huguenots, 
393. 

consents  reluctantly  to  the  mas- 
sacre, 394. 

tries    to    save    Rochefoucault, 
400. 

irresolution,  405. 

looks  from   a  window  at  the 
murders,  414. 

fires  at  the  fugitive  Huguenots, 
426. 

remorse  and  visions,  436. 

justifies  thcmassacre  before  the 
parliament,  438. 

present  at  execution  of  Briquc- 
maut,  442. 

orders  to  provincial  governors, 
447. 

medals  to  commemorate  mas- 
sacre, 464. 

conspiracy   to    dethrone   him, 
478. 

last  illness  and  death,  480. 
Charpentier's  apology  for  the  massa- 
cre, 464. 

Chateaubriant,  edict  of,  33. 
Chatillon,  Cardinal  of,  assaulted,  156. 

deliberations  at,  267. 
Church  property,  its  confiscation  pro- 
posed, 165. 
Clergy,  corruption  of,  3. 

their  power  and  wealth,  127. 

abusive  sermons,  preached  bv 

90,  286,  327. 
Coconnas  executed,  479. 
Cognac  besieged,  301. 
Coligny,  Gaspard  de,  67. 

advice  at  Amboise,  86. 
Fontainel)lcau,  99. 
Orleans,  112. 

his  wife's  advice,  196. 

saves  the  army  at  Drcux,  218. 


INDEX. 


Coligny   charged   with    plotting    the 
murder  of  Guise,  222. 

letter  on  his  son's  death,  228. 

reconciliation  with   Guises  at 
Moulins,  2GO. 

reproached  by  king,  204. 

dissuades  from  war,  2G8. 

skill  and  discipline,  272. 

death  of  his  wife,  280. 

visit  to  Tanlay,  291. 

flight  to  Rochelle,291. 

defeated  at  Jarnac,  296. 

victory  at  Roche-Abeille,  302. 

wounded  at  Moncontour,  305. 

letter  to  his  children,  306. 

marches  to  the  south,  308. 

victory  at  Arnay-le-Duc,  312. 

remonstrance    with    Charles, 
333. 

marries  Jacqueline  of  Mont- 
be],  334. 

arrival  at  court,  336. 

influence  with  Charles,  340. 

urges  war  with  Flanders,  344. 

memoir  on  proposed  war,  358. 

letter  to   William  of  Orange 
promising  aid,  362. 

warnings  and  cautions  neglect- 
ed, 367. 

remarks  at  Henry's  wedding, 
373. 

last  letter  to  his  wife,  375. 

wounded  by  an  assassin,  379. 

last   interview  with   Charles, 
384. 

murdered  by  Behm,  408. 

outrages  to  his  corpse,  411. 
Combelle  robbed  of  his  dispatches, 

454. 

Conde,  Henry,  Prince  of,  life  saved  by 
Elizabeth's  intercession,  434. 

abjuration,  444. 
Conde',  Louis,  Prince  of,  67. 

invited  to  Orleans,  105. 

reception  at  court,  105. 

trial,  107. 

attempts  to  rescue  king,  193. 

speech  at  Mcanx,  196. 

appointed  leader  of  Huguenot 
force,  197. 

manifesto    to  .  the   Protestant 
churches,  198. 


Conde',  Louis,  Prince  of,  made  pris- 
oner at  Dreux,  218. 
claims  to  be  appointed  lieuten- 
ant-general, 266. 
battle  of  St.  Denis,  272. 
marches  to  meet   the  reiters, 

275. 

flight  toRochelle,  291. 
killed  at  Jarnac,  296. 
Confession  of  faith  of  French  Reform- 
ers, 54. 
Cornaton  asks  king  for  a  guard  for 

Coligny,  391. 

escapes  from  the  massacre,  407. 
Correro,  France  in  1571,  323. 
Cosseins  appointed  to  guard  Coligny's 

house,  393. 

assists  in  the  murder,  407. 
Council  proposed,  92. 
Court-masques,  161,  250. 
Crespy,  treaty  of,  11. 
Crozier   and  his  blood-stained   com- 
rade, 425. 
Cypierre  murdered,  288. 


D. 

DAMVILLE  at  Nismes,  276. 

D'Aubigne  at  Amboise,  85. 

De  Crussol's  account  of  Huguenots, 

159. 

Delavoye,  martyrdom  of,  8. 
De  Nan£ay,  captain  of  the  guard,  401. 

protects  Margaret,  416. 
De  Pilles,  his  foolish  threats,  388. 

murdered  in  the  Louvre,  415. 
De  Retz,  his  origin,  319. 
rapid  rise,  320. 

voice  against  proposed  massa- 
cre, 397. 
Des  Adrets,  his  ferocious  retaliation, 

231. 
description  of,  by  De   Thou, 

232. 

Desmarais,  his  stout  defense,  307. 
De  Thou  eulogizes  the  king's  severi- 
ty, 440. 

private  opinion  of  the  massa- 
cre, 441. 

Diana  of  Poitiers,  character  of,  2f>. 
Dieppe,  its  wealth  and  commerce,  141. 


INDEX. 


491 


Dieppe,  ferocity  of  Huguenots  at,  240. 

Huguenots  punished,  310. 

the  governor's  speech  at,  458. 
Discontent  in  France,  77. 
Dloet  burned,  17. 

Dorat's  congratulations  on  the  mas- 
sacre, 453. 

Dramatic  amusements,  129. 
Dress  of  people,  119. 
Dreux,  battle  of,  218. 
Du  Bourg,  his  speech  in  Parliament, 
51. 

trial  and  execution,  74. 

Duplessis-Mornay's   memoir  on  the 

Flemish  war,  358. 

escapes  from  the  massacre,  430. 

escape  of  his  wife,  431. 


E. 

ECOTTEN,  edict  of,  56. 
Edict  of  Fontainebleau,  8. 

Chateaubriant,  33. 

Econen,  56. 

Villars-Cotteret,  73. 

Blois,  73. 

Chambord,  78. 

Amboise,  86. 

Romorantin,  88. 

April,  157. 

July,  158. 

January,  183. 

St.  Germains,  314. 
Elector-palatine  extols  Coligny,  470. 
Electoral  excitement,  149. 
Elizabeth,  Queen  of  France,  her  mar- 
riage, 322,  324. 

enters  Paris,  325. 

intercedes  to  save  Comic',  434. 

affection  for  Charles  IX.,  482. 

horror  at  the  massacre,  484. 
Elizabeth  of  England,  proposed  mar- 
riage with  Anjou,  332,  354. 

Alen9on,  356. 

Elizabeth  of  England,  cold,  reception 
of  the  French  embassador, 
468. 
England,  treaty  with,  355. 

horror  at  the  massacre,  468. 
Etienne,  Robert,  in  exile,  18. 
Executioner,  his  wages,  133. 


F. 

FONTAINEBLEAU,  edict  of,  8. 

meeting  of  Notables  at,  197. 

resolutions  of,  102. 
Flemish  war,  357,  358,  359,  3G2. 
Food  of  people,  11-9. 
France,  condition  of,  in  1560,  112. 

distressed   condition   of,  217, 

225. 
Francis  I.,  patronage  of  learning,  3. ' 

persecutes  Reformers,  7. 

orders  persecution  of  Vaudois, 
10. 

death  of,  20. 
Francis  II.,  accession,  61. 

alarm  at  court,  73. 

letters    ordering    persecution, 
94. 

illness  and  death,  108. 


G. 

GAP,  dissensions  at,  278. 

edict  neutralized  at,  327. 
Gastine  cross,  343. 
Genlis  defeated  and  made  prisoner, 

359. 

German  princes,  embassy  from,  326. 
Gibbets  of  Fontainebleau,  77. 
Gondi :  see  De  Retz. 
Gondrin  killed  at  Lyons,  234. 
Gonzaga ;  see  Nevers,  Duke  of. 
Gordes  hesitates  to  carry  out  the  or- 
der, 456. 

Gregory  XIII.  approves  of  the  mas- 
sacre, 466. 
Guise,  Francis,  Duke  of,  63. 
lieutenant-general,  86. 
combines  with  Montmorency, 

163. 

retires  from  privy  council,  184. 
goes  to  Savcrne,  186. 
orders  the  massacre  at  Vassy, 

188. 
ostentatiously    enters    Paris, 

191. 

plots  to  seize  the  king,  192. 
gains  victory  at  Dreux,  217. 


492 


Guise  besieges  Orleans,  220. 

murdered  by  Poltrot,  221. 
Guise,  Henry  of,  refuses  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  Coligny,  2C1. 

character,  321. 

threatening     proceedings     of, 
338. 

visits  Alva,  35G. 

offers  to  fight  Coligny,  357. 
Guise,  Henry  of,  proposal  to  murder 
Coligny,  377. 

asks  leave  to  quit  Paris,  394. 

visits  the  city  in  secret,  398. 

receives  the  final  orders,  405. 

recalled  too  late,  406. 

insults  the  corpse  of  Coligny, 
409. 

blood  drops  from  his  hand,  475. 


H. 

HAMPTON  COURT  treaty  209. 
Havre  surrendered  to  English,  209. 

siege  and  capture  of,  243. 
Henry  II.,  accession  of,  22. 

crowned  at  Rheims,  28. 

present  at  burning  of  heretics, 
30. 

favorite  Psalm,  45. 

orders  arrest  of  Du  Bourg,  52. 

wounded,  58. 

death,  58. 
Henry  of  Navarre  at  Bayonne,  255. 

speech  to  the  army,  300. 

description  of,  300. 

retreat  from  Mon  contour,  305. 

first  command,  312. 

proposed  marriage  with  Mar- 
garet, 338. 

letter  to  Queen  Elizabeth  on  his 
mother's  death,  366. 

comes  to  Paris,  369. 

marriage  with  Margaret,  372. 

indignation  at  attack  on  Co- 
ligny, 328. 

proposals  to  murder  him,  391. 

put  under  arrest,  424. 

abjures,  444. 

at  the  siege  of  Rochelle,  473. 

Charles  entrusts  his  wife  and 
child  to  him,  480. 


LA    HENAUDIE. 

Heresy  at  court,  1 60. 
Huguenot  army,  its  discipline,  203. 
Huguenots,  their  number  estimated, 
174. 

regain  courage,  472. 

rush  to  arms,  473. 

demands  at  Montauban,  477. 


I. 


IGNORANCE  of  the  people,  122. 
Infants  rechristened,  207. 
Inns  in  France,  115. 
Inquisition,  introduction  of,  resisted, 
37. 


J. 

JANUARY,  edict  of,  183. 

resisted  by  Tavannes,  184. 

Huguenot  rejoicings  over,  184. 
Jarnac,  battle  of,  296. 
Joan    of   Navarre,   her   reforms    in 
Beam,  257. 

takes  refuge  in  Rochelle,  292. 

fears  for  Coligny,  336. 

on  her  son's  marriage,  340. 

death  at  Paris,  356. 
July  edict,  158. 


K. 

KNOX,  JOHN,  his  denunciation  of  the 
murderers,  469. 


L. 

LA  MOLE  executed,  479. 

Lange,  orator  of  Third  Estate,  152. 

address  to  king,  152. 
La  None  describes  origin  of  war,  196. 

on  army  discipline,  203. 

the  conference  at  Thoury,  204. 

on  the  reiters,  275. 

governor  of  Rochelle,  474. 
La  Place,  Pierre  de,  murdered.  425. 
La  Renaudie,  79. 

killed  at  Amboisc,  81. 


INDEX. 


493 


LA    ROCHEFOUCACLT. 

La  Rochefoucault,  king  tries  to  save 
him,  400. 

murdered,  421. 

Lavergne  de  Tressan  at  Jarnac,  312. 
League  of  the  Loire,  115. 

Champagne,  289. 

Toulouse,  290. 
Lefevre,  the  first  Reformer,  2. 
Le  Laboureur,  his  panegyric  of  Co- 

ligny,  410. 

Le  Mans,  the  bishop  of,  240. 
Le  Puy,  procession  at,  35. 

infant  rebaptized,  207. 
Le'ran  saved  by  Margaret,  415. 
Lignerolles  murdered,  342. 
Limoux,  cruelties  at,  238. 
Lisieux,  Bishop  of,  protects  the  Hu- 
guenots, 455. 
L'Hopital  appointed  chancellor,  87. 

inaugural  address,  97. 

origin,  98. 

speech  to  States  of  'Orleans, 

'    151. 

address  to  parliament,  158. 

speech  at  Pontoise,  164. 

letter   to  Genevan  Calvinists, 
1G7. 

speech  at  Poissy,  169. 

to  the  Notables  at  St.  Ger- 
mains,  182. 

plot  to  murder  him,  227. 

proposes  concessions   to  Hu- 
guenots, 269. 

remonstrance  to  the  king,  279. 

joins  the  Politicians,  285. 

resigns  the  chancellorship,  289. 

escapes  the  massacre,  431. 
Longjumeau,  treaty  of,  280. 
Lorraine  family,  63. 
Lorraine,  Cardinal  of,  64. 

discussion  with  Bcza,  168. 

retires   from    Privy    Council, 
184. 

goes  to  Saverne,  186. 

forbidden  to  enter  Paris,  261. 

runs  away  from  Menux,  271. 

disgusted   with   St.  Gcrmains 
treaty,  317. 

goes  to  Rome,  351. 

rewards  messenger  of  the  mas- 
sacre, 465. 
Louvre,  the  murders  at,  404,  414. 


MICHELLE    DE    CAIGXOXCLE. 

Lyons  in  1560,  140. 

Huguenot' turbulence  at,  180. 
mastered  by  Huguenots,  235. 
massacre  at,  449. 


M. 

MACON,  leaps  of,  238. 
Maine,  sad  condition  of,  263. 
Mandelot  begs  a  share  of  the  plunder, 

450. 

Margaret  of  Valois,  6. 
Margaret,   Princess,  proposed   mar- 
riage with  Henry  of  Navarre, 
339. 

description  of,  349. 
alarmed  by  her  sister,  402. 
scene  in  her  chamber,  415. 
saves  Leran's  life,  416. 
weeps  over  head  of  La  Mole, 

479. 
Marie  de  Barbanson,  her  intrepidity, 

310. 

Marie  Mouchet,  323,  483. 
Marillac,  Archbishop,  his  speech  at 

Fontainebleau,  100. 
Marlorat  hanged,  215. 
Marot  imprisoned,  19. 
his  Psalms,  46. 

Martyrdoms,  5,  6,  8,  9,  13,  16,  17, 19. 
Massacre  in  Paris,  the,  417,  444. 
Massacre  in  Paris,    number  of  vic- 
tims in,  459,- 461. 
Maugiron,  cruelties  at  Valence,  95. 
Maurevel  hired  to  kill  the   admiral, 

378,  380. 
Maximilian  II.,  his  thoughts  on  the 

massacre,  469. 
Meaux,  tho  martyrs  of,  15. 
royal  flight  from,  269. 
the  massacre  at,  452. 
Medals,  commemorative,  464,  466. 
Mercurial  of  Henry  II.,  51. 
Mergey,  adieu  of  Rambouillet,  401. 
Me'rindol  destroyed,  12. 
Merlin,  the  admiral's  chaplain,  con- 
soles Coligny,  380. 
singular  escape,  408. 
Michcli's  account  of  the  Huguenots, 

174. 
Michelle  de  Caignonclc's  alms,  18. 


494 


INDEX. 


Minard,  President,  shot,  74. 
Miracle  of  the  flowering  thorn,  434. 
Moderate  party,  285,  315,  328,  330. 
Monceaux,  meeting    of  conspirators 

at,  377. 

Moncontour,  battle  of,  305. 
Mons,  capture  of,  358. 
,  Montauban,  Huguenot  assembly  at, 

477. 

Montbrun  takes  up  arms,  95. 
Montfau9on,  the  gibbet  at,  411. 
Montgomery  kills  Henry  II.,  58. 
governor  of  Rouen,  213. 
escapes  from  Paris,  428. 
made  prisoner,  481. 
Montluc,  Bishop,  his  speech  at  Fon- 

tainebleau,  99. 
Montluc,  Blaise   de,  his  barbarities, 

230. 

wise  severity,  2G4. 
Montmorency,  Constable,  27. 
his  cruelty,  28. 
dismissed,  71. 
combines  with  Guise  and  St. 

Andre',  163. 

burns  the  meeting-houses,  208. 
made  prisoner  at  Dreux,  220. 
killed  at  St.  Denis,  273. 
Montmorency,     Marshal,    threatens 

Cardinal  Lorraine,  261. 
advises  war  with  Spain,  331. 
tries  to  negotiate  with  Hugue- 
nots, 339. 

Montsoreau,  his  treachery  and  cruel- 
ty, 448. 

Moreau  burned  at  Troyes,  16. 
Moulins,  assembly  at,  258.  . 

Coligny  and  Guise  reconciled 

at,  260. 

Mouvans,  death  of,  96. 
Muretus  panegyrizes  the  murderers. 

466. 
Music,  decline  of,  in  church,  46. 


N. 

NANTES,  meeting  at,  79. 

refusal  of  magistrates  to  kill, 
Huguenots,  448. 

Nassau,  Count  Louis  of,  at  Moncon- 
tour, 305. 


PARDAILLAN. 

Nassau,  Count  Louis  of,  interview 
with  Charles  at  Lumignv, 
331. 

Xavarre,  King  of;  see  Anthony. 
Navy,  French,  in  sixteenth  century, 

126. 
Nemours,  Duke  of,  270. 

Duchess  of,  proposal  that  she 
shall  assassinate  Coligny, 
377. 

Nerac,  meeting  at,  103. 
Nevers,  Duke  of,  his  timidity,  321. 
Nismes.  results  of  persecution  at,  94. 
Michelade  of,  276. 
captured  by  Huguenots,  310. 
order  preserved,  458. 
Noises  in  the  air,  436. 
Normandy,  distress  in,  31. 
Notables,  Assembly  of,  at    St.   Ger- 

mains,  175. 

Number  of  the  victims  in  Paris,  459. 
the  provinces,  461. 


0. 

OPPEDE,  Baron  of,  his  cruelty,  12. 
Orange,  butchery  at,  234. 
Organization    of  Reformed   Church, 

65. 
Orleans,  the  court  at,  104. 

seized  by  Huguenots,  197. 

besieged   by  Duke  of  Guise, 
220. 

Huguenots  burned  at,  309. 

massacre  at,  450. 
Orsini's  mission,  471. 
Orthez,  his  reply  to  Charles,  455. 


P. 

PALISSY,    BERNARD,    patronized  by 

Catherine,  322. 
Pare',     Ambrose,     tends     Coligny's 

wounds,.  380. 

a  witness  of  the  murder,  408. 
escorted  to  the  Louvre,  410. 
singular  confession  of  king  to, 

435. 

on  the  death  of  Charles,  482. 
Pardaillan,  his  foolish  threats,  389. 


IXDEX. 


495 


PARDAILLAN. 

Pardaillian,  murdered  in  the  Louvre, 

415. 

Paris,  lawlessness  of,  76. 
in  15GO,  137. 

arming  of  the  citizens,  198. 
outrages  in,  207. 
disturbed  state  of,  in  winter  of 

1571,344. 

panic  at  news  of  Genlis's  de- 
feat, 359. 

Parliament  of  Paris,  divisions  in,  49. 
Pavannes,  martyrdom  of,  5. 
Peasantry,  condition  of,  117. 
Pedlar  burned  at  Velay,  36. 
Petrucci  cuts  off  the  admiral's  head, 

409. 
Philip  II.  intrigues  against  France, 

160,  176. 
treasonable    correspondence 

with  Triumvirate,  209. 
offers  aid  to  France,  316. 
threatens  war,  329. 
joy  at  the  massacre,  467. 
Philippa  de  Lunz  burned,  42. 
Philippe  Kicharde,  the  king's  Hugue- 
not nurse,  481. 

Pieds  Kus,  les,  their  atrocities,  226. 
Pius  V.,  congratulatory  letters,  289, 

298,  306. 
advises    continuance   of  war, 

314. 
Placards,  affair  of,  7. 

inflammatory,  42. 
Pluviers,   Huguenot    retaliation    at, 

216. 
Poissy,  colloquy  at,  16C. 

opened,  169. 
Poitiers,  severities  at,  74. 
Politiques,  les,  286,  315,  328,  330. 
Poltrot  murders  Francis  of  Guise,  221 . 
extolled  as  a  martyr  by  Hu- 
guenots, 223. 

Pontoise,  the  States  of,  163. 
Population  in  1560,  122. 
Pre  aux  Clercs,  psalm-singing,  46. 
Progress  of  reform,  31. 
Provinces  of  France,  113. 
Provins,  brutal  scene  at,  135. 
grievances,  149. 
rejoicings  at  news  of  Jarnac, 

299. 
flight  of  the  Huguenots,  457. 


Provost  of  Paris,  king's  instructions 

to,  399. 
Punishments,  133. 


QUENTIN,  JEAN,  orator  of  the  clergv, 

152. 
speech  at  Orleans,  154. 


R. 

RALEIGH,  WALTEK,  joins  the  Hugue- 
nots, 294. 

opinion  of  Conde,  299. 
Ramus,  Peter,  murdered,  423. 
Reformed   Church,  its  organization, 
55. 

doctrines,  their   rapid   exten- 
sion, 174. 

Regnier  de  la  Planche,  87. 
Reiters,  their  cupidity,  275,  281. 
Relics,  abuse  of,  4. 
Religious  wars,  First,  195. 

Second,  269. 

Third,  291. 

Renaudie,  Bary  de  la,  79,  81. 
Rennes,  disturbances  at,  156. 
Rents  in  Auverpne,  117. 
Revival  of  learning,  3. 
Roads  in  France,  1 14. 
Roche-Abeille,  battle  of,  302. 
Rochelle,  violence  at,  236. 

besieged  by  Anjou,  474. 

siege  raised,  474. 
Rome,  exultation  at,  4GG. 
Romorantin,  edict  of,  88. 
Ronsard,  the  poet,  226. 
Rouen,  ballet  at,  141. 

besieged,  213. 

reprisals  at,  214. 

the  massacre  at,  452. 
Rue  St.  Jacques,  affair  of,  40. 


S. 

SADOLET,  his  charity,  15. 
St.  Andre,  66. 

joins  the  Triumvirate,  163. 


496 


INDEX. 


ST.   ANDRfe. 

Saint  Andre  killed  at  Dreux,  219. 
St.  Calais,  monks  of,  238. 

Croix ;  see  Santa  Crocc. 

Cyr,  Count  of,  his  desperate 
charge,  305. 

Denis,  battle  of,  272. 

Germains,  Notables  at,  182. 
peace  of,  314. 

Ile'rem  refuses  to  obey  order, 
454. 

Me'dard,  riot  of,  181. 

Quentin,  defeat  at,  40. 
Salviati's  report  of  the  massacre,  418. 
Sancerre,  the  siege  of,  47C. 

capitulates,  477. 
Santa  Crocc  praises  Reformers,  159. 

describes  the  state  of  Paris,  182. 

praises  the  admiral,  410. 
Saverne,  conference  at,  186. 
Senlis,  Huguenots  exiled,  456. 
Sens,  massacre  at,  199. 
Sermons  and  congregations,  173. 
Shrove-Tuesday  plot,  478. 
Sigognes,  governor  of  Dieppe,  288. 
Sillv,  Jacques  de,  orator  of  the  no- 
bles, 152. 

speech  at  Orleans,  152. 
Sisteron,  massacre  at,  200. 

deserted  by  Huguenots,  237. 
Soubise,  his  resistance,  422. 

indignities  to  corpse,  415. 
States-General  of  Orleans,  148. 

opened  by  king,  150. 
Street  architecture,  135. 
Strozzi,  Cardinal,  his  atrocities,  232. 
Strozzi,  Colonel-general,  captured  at 
Roche- Abeille,  303. 

drowns  ,the  camp-followers, 
315. 

unpopular  in  army,  320. 
Stuart,  Robert,  murders  the  consta- 
ble, 273. 

Sully  escapes  the  massacre,  428. 
Sumptuary  laws,  120. 
Superstitions,  131. 

Synod,  first  Reformed,  meets  in  Par- 
is, 54. 

of  Poissy,  impracticable  tem- 
per of  Huguenot  ministers, 
173. 

ofRochelle,  321. 


T. 

TAILOR,  martyrdom  of  a,  31. 
Talcy,  interview  at,  205. 
Tavannes   suggests  ecclesiastical  re- 
forms, 93. 

plunders  Macon,  237. 
appointed     military     superin- 
tendent   during    massacre, 
398. 

complains    of  apathy  of  citi- 
zens, 400. 

sanguinary  cry,  447. 
Taverny,  stout  resistance  of,  422. 
Taxation  in  15GO,  123. 
Teligny,  his  mission  to  the  king,  334. 
marries  the  admiral's  daugh- 
ter, 334. 
sent  in  pursuit  of  Maurcvcl, 

381. 

last  night  with  Coligny,  403. 
murdered,  412. 
Tende,  Count  of,  447. 
Thomas  of  St.  Paul  burned,  17. 
Thoury,  negotiations  at,  204. 
"TigeV,"  the,  a  satire,  90. 

note  on  the,  111. 
Tocsin  rung,  413. 
Tossinghi  steals  the  admiral's  gold 

chain,  409. 
Toulon  in  1560,  143. 
Toulouse,  massacres  at,  237,  453. 
Tournament  in  Paris,  57. 
Tours,  massacre  at,  211. 
Traveling  in  France,  1 14. 
Trent,  instructions  to  Council  of,  92. 

Council  of,  245. 
Triumvirate,  the,  formed,  1G3. 

treasonable   correspondence 

with  Philip  II.,  209. 
Troycs,  the  massacre  at,  452. 


V. 

VALENCE,  reform  in,  96. 
Vaudois,  massacre  of,  1 2. 
Vassy,  massacre  at,  187. 

Catholic  exultation  over,  190. 
Velay,  contests  in,  36. 


IXDEX. 


497 


VENDOME. 

Vendome,  meeting  at,  72. 
Victims,  number  of,  459,  461. 
Vigor,  Simon,  ferocious  sermon  of, 

177.' 
Villars,  Count  of,  describes  state  of 

Nismes,  94. 
Villemangis  beheaded,  84. 

w. 

WAGES  in  1560,  117. 
I  I 


WILD   ANIMALS. 

Walsingham   on    Anjou's   ambition, 

316. 

opinion  of  king,  336. 
letter  on   defeat  of  Genlis, 

359. 

on  war  in  Flanders,  360. 
report  of  meeting  at  Montpi- 

peau,  364. 
describes     the    execution    of 

Briquemaut,  443. 
Wild  animals  in  France,  115. 


Valuable  Standard  Works 

FOR  PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE  LIBRARIES, 
PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


For  a  full  List  of  Books  suitable  for  Presentation,  see  HARPER  &  BROTHERS' 
TRADE-LIST  find  CATALOGUE,  "which  may  be  had  gratuitously  on  application 
to  the  Publishers  personally,  or  by  letter  enclosing  Five  Cents. 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS  will  send  any  of  tlie  following  works  by  Afail,  postagi 
prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  on  receipt  of  the  Price. 


NAPOLEON'S  LIFE  OF  CAESAR.    The  History  of  Julius  Csesar.    By  His 
Imperial  Majesty  NAPOLEON  III.    Volumes  I.  and  II.  now  ready.    Library 
Edition,  Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50  per  volume ;  Half  Calf,  $5  75  per  volume. 
Maps  to  rols.  I.  and  If.  sold  separately.    Price  $1  50  each,  NET. 

MOTLEY'S  DUTCH  REPUBLIC.  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  A  His- 
tory. By  JOHN  LOTIIROP  MOTI.KV,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.  With  a  Portrait  of  Wil- 
liam of  Orange.  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  50 ;  Sheep,  $12  00;  Half  Calf,  $17  25. 

MOTLEY'S  UNITED  NETHERLANDS.  History  of  the  United  Nether- 
lands: from  the  Death  of  William  the  Silent  to  the  Synod  of  Dort.  With 
a  full  View  of  the  English-Dutch  Struggle  against  Spa'in,  and  of  the  Origin 
and  Destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada.  By  JOHN  LOTHROP  MOTLEY, 
LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  Author  of  "The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic."  4  vols.,  Svo, 
Cloth  $14  00 ;  Sheep,  $16  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $23  00. 

WOOD'S  HOMES  WITHOUT  HANDS.  Homes  Without  Hands:  Being  a 
Description  of  the  Habitations  of  Animals,  classed  according  to  their  Prin- 
ciple of  Construction.  By  J.  G.  WOOD,  M.A.,  F.L.S.,  Author  of  "Illus- 
trated Natural  History."  With  about  140  Illustrations,  engraved  by  6. 
Pearson,  from  Original  Designs  made  by  F.  W.  Keyl  and  E.  A.  Smith,  un- 
der the  Author's  Superintendence.  Svo,  Cloth,  Beveled  Edges,  $4  50 ;  Full 
Morocco,  $S  00. 

ALCOCK'S  JAPAN.  The  Capital  of  the  Tycoon:  A  Narrative  of  a  Three 
Years'  Residence  in  Japan.  By  Sir  RuTin?RKOB_i>  ALCOOK,  K.C.B.,  Her  Maj- 
esty's Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  in  Japan.  With 
Maps  and  Engravings.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

ALFORD'S  GREEK  TESTAMENT.  The  Greek  Testament:  with  a  crit- 
ically-revised Text;  a  Digest  of  Various  Readings;  Marginal  References 
to  Verbal  and  Idiomatic  Usage :  Prolegomena;  and  a  Critical  and  Exe- 
getical  Commentary.  For  the  L'se  of  Theological  Students  and  Minis- 
ters. By  HENRY  A'I.FORII,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Canterbury.  Vol.  I.,  containing 
the  Four  Gospels.  944  pages,  Svo,  Cloth,  $6  00 ;  Sheep,  $0  50 ;  Half  Calf, 
.*S  -25. 

ALISON'S  HISTORY  OF  EUROPE.    FIRST  SERIES:  From  the  Commence- 
ment of  the  French  Revolution,  in  1783,  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Bour- 
bons, in  1S15.    [In  addition  to  the  Notes  on  Chapter  LXXVL,  which  cor- 
rect the  errors  of  the  original  work  Concerning  the  L^nited  States,  a  co- 
Eions  Analytical  Index  has  been   appended  to  this  American  edition.] 
EOONK  SERIES:  From  the  Fall  of  Napoleon,  in  1*15,  to  the  Accession  of 
Louis  Napoleon,  in  1852.    8  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00;  Half  Calf,  $34  00. 

BURNS'S  LIFE  AtfD  WORKS.  The  Life  and  Works  of  Robert  Burns.  Ed- 
ited by  ROBEBT  CUA.MBEBS.  4  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $(J  00. 


2        Harper  <5^  Brothers'  Valuable  Standard  Works. 

EARTH'S  NORTH  AND  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  Travels  and  Discoveries  in 
North  and  Centra"!  Africa :  Being  a  Journal  of  an  Expedition  undertaken 
under  the  Auspices  of  H.B.M.'s  'Government,  in  the  Years  1840-1855.  By 
HENRY  BARTII,  Ph.D.,  D.C.L.  Illustrated.  Complete  in  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth. 
$12  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $18  75. 

BEECHER'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY,  &c.  Autobiography,  Correspondence, 
&c.,  of  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.  Edited  by  his  Son,  CHARLES  BEECIIEK.  With 
Three  Steel  Portraits  and  Engravings  on  Wood.  In  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth, 
$500;  Half  Calf,  $850. 

BRODHEAD'S  HISTORY  OP  NEW  YORK.  History  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  By  JOIIN  ROMEYN  BRODUEAIJ.  First  Period,  1609-10(54.  Svo,  Cloth, 
$300. 

CARLYLE'S  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  History  of  Friedrich  II.,  called 
Frederick  the  Great.  By  THOMAS  CARI.YLE.  Portraits,  Maps,  Plans,  &c. 
C  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $12  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $22  50. 

CARLYLE'S  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  History  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. Newly  Revised  by  the  Author,  with  Index,  <fcc.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth, 
$350. 

CARLYLE'S  OLIVER  CROMWELL.  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well. With  Elucidations  and  Connecting  Narrative.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth, 
$350. 

CHALMERS'S  POSTHUMOUS  WORKS.  The  Posthnmous  Works  of  Dr. 
Chalmers.  Edited  by  his  Son-in-Law,  Rev.  WII.T.IAM  HANNA,  LL.D.  Com- 
plete in  9  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  13  50 ;  Half  Calf,  $29  25. 

JOHNSON'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D. 
With  an  Essay  on  his  Life  and  Genius,  by  ARTHUR  MURPJIY,  Esq.  Portrait 
of  Johnson.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

CLAYTON'S  QUEENS  OF  SONG.  Queens  of  Song:  Being  Memoirs  of 
pome  of  the  most  celebrated  Female  Vocalists  who  have  performed  on  the 
Lyric  Stage  from  the  Earliest  Days  of  Opera  to  the  Present  Time.  To 
which  is  added  a  Chronological  List  of  all  the  Operas  that  have  been  per- 
formed in  Europe.  By  EI.I.EN  CEEATHORNE  CLAYTON.  Writh  Portraits. 
Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $5  25. 

COLERIDGE'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Complete  Works  of  Samuel 
Taylor  Coleridere.  With  an  Introductory  Essay  upon  his  Philosophical  and 
Theological  Opinions.  Edited  by  Professor  SIIEDD.  Complete  in  7  vols. 
With  a  flue  Portrait.  Small  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  50;  Half  Calf,  $22  75. 

CURTIS'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  History  of  the  Origin, 
Formation,  and  Adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  By 
GEORGK  TIOKNOR  CUBTIS.  Complete  in  two  large  and  handsome  OctaTO 
Volumes.  Cloth,  $C  00 ;  Sheep,  $7  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $10  50. 

DA  VIS'S  CARTHAGE.  Carthage  and  her  Remains :  Being  an  Account  of 
the  Excavations  and  Researches  on  the  Site  of  the  Phoenician  Metropolis 
in  Africa  and  other  ad  jacent  Places.  Conducted  under  the  Auspices  of 
Her  Majesty's  Government.  By  Dr.  DAVIS,  F.R.G.S.  Profusely  Illustrated 
with  Maps,  Woodcuts,  Chromo-Lithographs,  &c.  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

GIBBON'S  ROME.  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
By  EDWARD  GinnoN.  With  Notes  by  Rev.  H.  H.  MII.MAN  and  M.  GUI/OT. 
A  new  cheap  Edition.  To  which  is  added  a  Complete  Index  of  the  whole 
Work,  and  a  Portrait  of  the  Author.  6  vole.,  12rno  (uniform  with  Huce), 
Cloth,  $3  00  ;  Half  Calf,  $1'J  50. 


Harper  &*  Brothers'  Valuable  Standard  Works. 


DOOLITTLE'S  CHINA.  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese :  With  some  Account 
of  their  Religious,  Governmental,  Educational,  and  Business  Customs  and 
Opinions.  With  special  but  not  exclusive  Reference  to  Fuhchau.  By  Rev. 
JUSTUS  Don  LITTLE,  Fourteen  Years  Member  of  the  Fuhchau  Mission  of  the 
American  Board.  Illustrated  with  more  than  150  characteristic  Engravings 
on  Wood.  2  vols.,  l-.'mo,  Cloth,  $5  00 :  Half  Calf,  - 

DRAPER'S  AMERICAN  CIVIL  POLICY.  Thoughts  on  the  Future  Civil 
Policy  of  America.  By  JOHX  W.  DRAPER,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry and  Physiology  in  the  University  of  New  York,  Author  of  a  "  Treat- 
ise on  Human  Physiology,"  and  a  "History  of  the  Intellectual  Develop- 
ment of  Europe."  Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

DRAPER'S  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  EUROPE.  A  History 
of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe.  By  JOHN  W.  DRAPER,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physiology  in  the  University  of  New 
York.  Svo,  Cloth,  $5 ;  Half  Calf,  $7  25. 

MISS  EDGEWORTH'S  NOVELS.  With  Engravings.  10  volsmne,  12mo, 
Cloth,  $15  00;  Half  Calf,  $32  50. 

GROTE'S  HISTORY  OF  GREECE.    12  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $18  00 ;  Half  Calf, 

$39  00. 

MRS.  HALE'S  WOMAN'S  RECORD.  Woman's  Record ;  or,  Biographical 
Sketches  of  all  Distinguished  Women,  from  the  Creation  to  the  Present 
Time.  Arranged  in  Four  Eras,  with  Selections  from  Female  Writers  of 
each  Era.  By  Mrs.  SARAH  JOSEPHA  HALE.  Illustrated  with  more  than  200 
Portraits,  Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

HALL'S  ARCTIC  RESEARCHES.  Arctic  Researches  and  Life  Among  the 
Esquimaux:  Being  the  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  in  Search  of  Sir  John 
Franklin,  in  the  Years  1860,  1861,  and  1862.  By  CIIARLES  FRANCIS  HALL. 
With  Maps  and  100  Hlustratious.  The  Illustrations  are  from  Original 
Drawings  by  Charles  Parsons,  Henry  L.  Stephens,  Solomon  Eyting,  W.  8. 
L.  Jewett,  and  Granville  Perkins,  after  Sketches  by  Captain  Hall.  A 
new  Edition.  Svo,  Cloth,  Beveled  Edges,  $5  00;  Half  Calf,  $7  25. 

IIALLAM'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  from  the  Ac- 
cession of  Henry  VII.  to  the  Death  of  George  II.  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

HALLAM'S  LITERATURE.  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  dur- 
ing the  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.  By  HENRY  HAL- 
LAM.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

HALLAM'S  MIDDLE  AGES.  State  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.  By 
HENKY  HALLAM.  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

HARPER'S  NEW  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY.    Literal  Translations. 
The  following  volumes  are  now  ready.    Portraits.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50  each. 


C.S8AR. 
VlRlill.. 

SALLCST. 

HOBAOE. 

CICEBO'S  OBATTONB. 

CICEBO'S  OFFICES,  <fec. 

CICERO  ON  OBATOKY  AND  ORATORS. 

TAI-ITI-B.     2  vols. 

TKRENCE. 

SOPHOCLES. 


JUVENAL. 
XENOPHON. 
HOMER'S  ILIAD. 
HOMER'S  ODYSSEY. 
UKKOOOTUS. 
DF.MOSTHE.NF.S. 
TIIUCYDIDEB. 
AESCHYLUS. 
ECBIPIDES.    2  vols. 


HARPER'S  PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  REBELLION.  Harper's 
Pictorial  History  of  tlje  Great  Rebellion  in  the  United  States.  Vol.  I.  now 
ready.  More  than  500  Illustrations.  4to,  $000.  Vol.  II.  ia  now  being  Pub- 
lishe'd  in  Numbers. 


4        Harper  &•»  Brothers'  Valuable  Standard  Works. 

HILDKETH'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  First  Series :  From 
the  First  Settlement  of  the  Country  to  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution. Second  Series:  From  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  to 
the  End  of  the  Sixteenth  Congress.  0  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $1S  00 ;  Half  Calf, 

$31  £>!>. 

HUME'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  History  of  England,  from  the  Inva- 
sion of  Julius  Caesar  to  the  Abdication  of  James  II.,  10SS.  By  DAVID 
HfME.  A  New  Edition,  with  the  Author's  last  Corrections  and  Improve- 
ments. To  which  is  prefixed  a  short  Account  of  his  Life,  written"  by  Him- 
self. With  a  Portrait  of  the  Author.  G  Vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $9  00;  Half 
Calf,  $19  50. 

JAY'S  WORKS:  Complete  Works  of  Rev.  William  Jay  :  comprising  his  Ser- 
•  minis,  Family  Discourses,  Morning  and  Evening  Exercises  for  every  Day  in 
the  Year,  Family  Prayers,  <fec.  A  uthor's  enlarged  Edition,  revised.  3  vols., 
vo,  Cloth,  $<5  00;  Half  Calf,  $12  75. 


Svo 


•KINGLAKE'S  CRIMEAN  WAR.  The  Invasion  of  the  Crimea :  Its  Origin, 
and  an  Account  of  its  Progress  down  to  the  Death  of  Lord  Raglan.  By 
ALEXANDER  WILLIAM  KINGI.AKK.  With  Maps  and  Plans.  2  Vols.  Vol.  I. 

,     Maps.     12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

LAMB'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Charles  Lamb.  Comprising 
his  Letters,  Poems,  Essays  of  Elia,  Essays  upon  Shakspeare,  Hogarth,  <fcc., 
and  a  Sketch  of  his  Life,  with  the  Final  Memorials,  by  T.  NOON  TAI-FOCED- 
Portrait.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

DR.  LIVINGSTONE'S  SOUTH  AFRICA.  Missionary  Travels  and  Re- 
searches in  South  Africa ;  including  a  Sketch  of  Sixteen  Years'  Residence 
in  the  Interior  of  Africa,  and  a  Journey  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to 
Loando  on  the  West  Coast;  thence  across  the  Continent,  down  the  River 
Zambesi,  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  By  DAVID  LTVTMOBTONE,  LL.D.,  D.C.L. 
With  Portrait,  Maps  by  Arrowsmith,  and  numerous  Illustrations.  Svo, 
Cloth,  $4  50 ;  Half  Calf,  $0  75. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  ZAMBESI.  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi 
and  its  Tributaries  ;  and  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Lakes  Shirwa  and  Nyas- 
sa.  1S5S-18G4.  By  DAVID  and  CHARLES  LIVINGSTONE.  With  Map  and  Il- 
lustrations. Svo,  Cloth,  $5  Ot»;  Half  Calf,  $7  25.  [Uniform  with  Liviny- 
stoncs  "South  Africa."] 

LOSSING'S  FIELD-BOOK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  Pictorial  Field-Book 
of  the  Revolution ;  or,  Illustrations  by  Pen  and  Pencil  of  the  History, "Bi- 
ography. Scenery,  Relics,  and  Traditions  of  the  War  for  Independence.  By 
B-KNS.IN  J.  LOSMSG.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $14  00;  Sheep,  $1500;  Half  Calf, 
$1S  00;  Full  Turkey  Morocco,  $22  00. 

MACAULAY'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.    The  History  of  England  from 
•     the  Accession  of  James  II.    By  THOMAS  BAIUNGTON  MACAULAV.     With  an 
original  Portrait  of  the  Author.     5  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00;  Half  Calf, 
$21  25 ;  12mo,  Cloth,  $7  50 ;  Half  Calf,  $1C  25. 

MARCY'S  ARMY  LIFE  ON  THE  BORDER.  Thirty  Years  of  Army  Life 
on  the  Border.  Comprising  Descriptions  of  the  Indian  Nomads  of  the 
Plains ;  Explorations  of  New  Territory ;  a  Trip  across  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains in  the  Winter;  Descriptions  of  the  Habits  of  Different  Animals  found 
in  the  West,  and  the  Methods  of  Hunting  them  ;  with  Incidents  in  the  Life 
of  Different  Frontier  Men,  <fec.,  &c.  By  Brevet  Brig.-General  R.  B.  MAKC-V, 
U.S.A.,  Author  of  "The  Prairie  Traveller."  With  numerous  Illustrations. 
Svo,  Cloth,  Beveled  Edges,  $3  00. 

TICKNOR'S  HISTORY  OF  SPANISH  LITERATURE.  With  Criticisms  on 
the  particular  Works,  and  Biographical  Notices  of  prominent  Writers.  3 
vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 


Harper  6-»  Brothers'  Valuable  Standard  Works.        5 

THE  POETS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  Selected  and  Edited 
by  the  Rev.  ROBERT  Auis  WILLMOTT.  With  English  and  American  Addi- 
tions, arranged  by  EVERT  A.  DUVCKIXOK,  Editor  of  "  Cyclopsedia  of  Amer- 
ican, Literature."  Comprising  Selections  from  the  greatest  Authors  of  the 
Age.  Superbly  Illustrated  with  132  Engravings  from  Designs  by  the  most 
Eminent  Artists.  In  elegant  Small  4to  form,  printed  on  Superfine  Tinted 
Paper,  richly  bound  in  extra  Cloth  beveled,  gilt  edges,  $0  00  ;  Half  Calf. 
$0  00  ;  Full  Turkey  Morocco,  $10  00. 

BANCROFT'S  MISCELLANIES.  Literary  and  Historical  Miscellanies.  By 
GEOBUE  BANCROFT.  Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

BOSWELL'S  JOHNSON.  The  Life  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  Including  a 
Journey  to  the  Hebrides.  By  JAMES  BOSNVKT.T.,  Esq.  A  New  Edition,  with 
numerous  Additions  and  Notes,  by  JOHN  WILSON  CROKER,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 
Portrait  of  Boswell.  .  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

DR.  OLIN'S  LIFE  AND  LETTERS.    2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

DR.  OLIN'S  TRAVELS.  Travels  in  Egypt,  Arabia  Petrsea,  and  the  Holy 
Laud.  Engravings.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

DR.  OLIN'S  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Stephen  Olin,  D.D.,  late  President 
of  the  Wesleyau  University.  2  vols.,  121110,  Cloth,  $3  (K). 

LAURENCE  OLIPHANT'S  CHINA  AND  JAPAN.  Narrative  of  ths  Earl 
of  Elgin's  Mission  to  China  and  Japan,  in  the  Years  1857,  '58,  '59.  By  LAU- 
RKNCIS  Ot.iriiANT,  Private  Secretary  to  Lord  Elgin.  Illustrations."  Svo, 
Cloth,  $3  50. 

MRS.  OLIPHANT'S  LIFE  OF  EDWARD  IRVING.  The  Life  of  Edward 
Irving,  Minister  of  the  National  Scotch  Church,  London.  Illustrated  by 
his  Journals  and  Correspondence.  By  Mrs.  OI.II-IJANT.  Portrait.  Svo, 
Cloth,  $3  50. 

PAGE'S  LA  PLATA.  La  Plata:  The  Argentine  Confederation  and  Para- 
guay. Being  a  Narrative  of  the  Exploration  of  the  Tributaries  of  the  Riv- 
er La  Plata  and  Adjacent  Countries,  during  the  Years  1853,  '54,  '55,  and  '50, 
under  the  orders  of  the  United  States  Government.  By  THOMAS  J.  PAGE, 
U.S.N.,  Commander  of  the  Expedition.  With  Map  and  numerous  Engrav- 
ings. 8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00  ;  Half  Calf,  $7  25. 

SHAKSPEARE.  The  Dramatic  Works  of  William  Shnkspcarp,  with  the 
Corrections  and  Illustrations  of  Dr.  JOHNSON,  G.  STKI.YKNS.  and  others. 
Revised  by  ISAAC  REED.  Engravings.  0  vols.,  Royal  I'.'mo,  Cloth,  $'.i  im; 
Half  Calf,  $1'J  50. 

PRIME'S  COINS,  MEDALS,  AND  SEALS.  Coins,  Medals,  And  Seals,  An- 
cient and  Modern.  Illustrated  and  Described.  With  a,  Sketch  of  the  His- 
tory of  Coins  and  Coinage,  Instructions  for  Youn;:  Collectors  Table*  nf 
Comparative  Rarity,  Price-Lists  of  English  and  American  C.iins,  Medals, 
and  Tokens,  <fcc.,  &c.  Edited  by  W.  C.  PRIME,  Author  of  "Boat  Life  in 
Eirvpt  and  Nubia,"  "Tent  Life  m  the  Holy  Laud,"  &c.,  <fcc.  Svo,  Cloth, 


KUSSELL'S  MODERN  EUROPE.  History  of  Modern  Europe,  with  a  View 
of  the  I'roLrre^s  of  Society,  from  the  Rise  of  Modern  Kingdoms  to  the  Peace 
of  Pans  in'l7<i:t.  By  W.  RCSSKI.I..  With  a  Continuance,  of  the  History,  by 
WM.  JONES.  Engravings.  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  >>;  mi. 

WILKINSON'S  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.  A  Popular  Account  of  their  Man- 
ners and  Customs,  condensed  from  his.  larger  Work,  with  some  new  Matter. 
Illustrated  with  000  Woodcut*.  2  vols.,  l-.'mo,  Cloth,  $3  50;  Half  Calf, 
$700. 


6        Harper  &>  Brothers'1  Valuable  Standard  Works. 

SPEKE'S  AFRICA.  Journal  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the  Nile. 
By  Captain  JOHN  HANKING  SI-EKE,  Captain  II.  M.  Indian  Army,  Fellow  and 
Gold  Medalist  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Hon.  Corresponding 
Member  and  Gold  Medalist  of  the  French  Geographical  Society,  &c.  With 
Maps  and  Portraits  and  numerous  Illustrations,  chiefly  from  Drawings  by 
Captain  GRANT.  Svo,  Cloth,  uniform  with  Livingstone,  Earth,  Burton.  &c., 
$4  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $G  25. 

SPRING'S  SERMONS.  Pulpit  Ministrations ;  or,  Sabbath  Readings.  A  Se- 
ries of  Discourses  on  Christian  Doctrine  and  Duty.  By  Rev.  GARDINER 
SI-KING,  D,D.,  Pastor  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of  New 
York.  Portrait  on  Steel.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 

MISS  STRICKLAND'S  QUEENS  OF  SCOTLAND.  Lives  of  the  Queens 
of  Scotland  and  English  Princesses  connected  with  the  regal  Succession 
of  Great  Britain.  By  AGNES  STRICKLAND.  8  vols.  12mo,  Cloth,  $1200: 
Half  Calf,  $26  00. 

ADDISON'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Joseph  Addison,  em- 
bracing the  whole  of  the  "Spectator."  Complete  in  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth. 
$6  OOf  Half  Calf,  $12  75. 

THE  STUDENT'S  HISTORIES. 
France.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 
Gibbon.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 
Greece.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 
The  same,  abridged.    Engravings.    IGmo,  Cloth,  $1  00. 
Hume.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 
Rome.    By  Liddell.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 
Smaller  History  of  Rome.    Engravings.    IGmo,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

THOMSON'S  LAND  AND  THE  BOOK ;  or,  Biblical  Illustrations  drawn 
from  the  Manners  and  Customs,  the  Scenes  and  the  Scenery  of  the  Holy 
Land.  By  W.  M.  THOMSON,  D.D.,  Twenty-five  Years  a  Missionary  of  the 
A.B.C.F.M.  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  With  two  elaborate  Maps  of  Palestine, 
an  accurate  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  aud  several  Hundred  Enf/ravings,  represent- 
ing the  Scenery,  Topography,  and  Productions  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  the 
Costumes,  Manners,  and  Habits  of  the  People.  2  elegant  Large  12mo  Vol- 
umes, Cloth,  $5  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $S  50. 

VAMBERY'S  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Travels  in  Central  Asia.  Being  the  Ac- 
count of  a  Journey  from  Teheran  across  the  Turkoman  Desert,  on  the  East- 
ern Shore  of  the  Caspian,  to  Khiva,  Bokhara,  and  Samarcand,  performed 
in  the  Year  1863.  By  ARMINIUS  VAMBERY,  Member  of  the  Hungarian  Acad- 
emy of  Pesth,  by  whom  he»was  sent  on  this  Scientific  Mission.  With  Map 
and  Woodcuts.  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  50 ;  Half  Calf,  $6  75. 

ABBOTT'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  The  French 
Revolution  of  17S9,  as  viewed  in  the  Light  of  Republican  Institutions.  By 
JOHN  8.  C.  ABBOTT.  With  100  Engravings.  Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00 ;  Half  Calf, 
$725. 

ABBOTT'S  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.  The  History  of  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte. By  JOHN  8.  C.  ABBOTT.  With  Maps,  Woodcuts,  and  Portraits  on 
Steel.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00 ;  Half  Caff,  $14  50. 

ABBOTT'S  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA;  or,  Interesting  Anecdotes  and 
Remarkable  Conversations  of  the  Emperor  during  the  Five  and  a  Half 
Years  of  his  Captivity.  Collected  from  the  Memorials  of  Las  Casas,  O'Mea- 
ra,  Montholon,  Antommarchi,  and  others.  By  JOHN  8.  C.  ABBOTT.  With 
Illustrations.  Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $7  25. 


\J  V 


